War of Love and Lies Mulan Crossover
by Fire Inu Princess
Summary: Hinata goes to fight in the war to protect her father and regain her lost honor. But, as she trains, she gains feelings for her captain, only to learn, that she isn't the only one keeping secrets, but the captain as well... what could he be hiding? R&R
1. Honor

_Life is something that you should never take for granted… life is always tough, and it may always throw things at you… you feel like you are nothing but a freak or that you don't belong… That is how I felt when I was younger… my father was one of the greatest warriors known to man, but due to an injury in his leg, he could no longer fight…_

_Me and my mother try to help him in anything that he wanted to do till he could get used to having the permanent damage to his leg… though, my father sometimes tried to do things that he shouldn't for the sake of the honor of the Hyuuga Clan… why? I'll never know… I know that honor is important but that is why we have a new generation… to keep that honor forever…_

_But… when I was to bring more honor to my family, I tried to be something I wasn't… I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if you want honor, you have to earn it, and not do something that doesn't make you, you in order to get it… to earn it… this, is my story… of my lies… of the lies I've seen in the war… and how I met someone close and dear to my heart, while I tried to save my father…_

It was a beautiful day in the village of Konoha, clear sky's… birds singing… squirrels running around and going to their families… It was such a lovely day that a young woman was sitting outside painting the scenery outside in the gardens that resided just outside of her manor… Or, what she should say her families lands instead…

This woman had beautiful silky blue hair that reached her lower back. Beautiful lavender coloured eyes that could melt the heart of any man… no matter how cold he was… had soft pale skin that it almost felt like she was made of silk instead of flesh. Her kimono was silver that was decorated with dancing sakura blossoms that looked as if they were blowing in the wind… Sighing softly, she lied on the grass that she had been sitting on, wondering why she had to go through with this…

For the last few days, her father and mother had been preparing the house for the man she was to marry… An arrange marriage… something that she had never wanted… something that she despised and yet it wouldn't matter… she had no say in the matter… "No woman ever has a say…" She whispered softly before turning to lie on her side. Why couldn't she have been born a boy? Her cousin was able to marry who he had wanted… and she wasn't… because she was the heir to the Hyuuga fortune…

Getting up, the young woman picked up her art supplies and headed on inside… maybe if she was lucky her 'husband-to-be' won't show up at all and it will take a year before her parents found another one that she is to marry… though, that should give her enough time to find herself a man… that would love her… for her…

"What's the matter Hinata?" Asked a small and soft voice, which had caused the young woman to turn and look down only to see her little sister Hanabi. Smiling a bit, Hinata knelt down and stared at her little sister. Like everyone else in her family, her sister had inherited the lavender eyes… though, her sister had inherited the long brown hair that their father was known for… while Hinata had inherited their mother's hair colouring.

"Mother and father are trying to get me to marry someone… I don't love this man; I don't even know him…"

"You want someone you love…"

Hinata couldn't believe how smart her little sister was. Sometimes, the young woman thought that Hanabi should take over the Hyuuga fortune instead of her… Hinata believed in different things... that everyone had a right, that you shouldn't act like someone you're not… just to be yourself… and yet everyone thought that she was crazy for it.

"I'm sure you'll find someone…" calmly said Hanabi before walking away… she may be smart for her age but it was a little creepy to how mature she could be half the time. Taking a deep breath, Hinata rose to her feet and started to walk around trying to find her father or even her mother.

Frowning in confusion, Hinata thought that she had heard something behind the doors to the main hall. It made her wonder if the voices were her mother and father. Tilting her head to the side, she knocked and opened the door as she walked forward, standing there with her parents was a tall man that had short brown hair, tanned skin, wild looking eyes, red upside down triangles . He wore a simple black shirt with matching black pants… his trade mark.

It was the man she was to marry… Hinata didn't know how but she just _knew_ that it was him. Bowing slightly, she walked over to her parents as she calmly said "mother, father… may I ask who this is that accompanies you?" She tilted her head to the side, wondering who this man could possibly be… there was no way that this could be the man, but… it was the only thing that would make sense… why else would this man be here when they weren't expecting anyone… Though, the fear that this was to be her husband, it coursed through her, wrapped itself around her heart like ice… this can't be happening… this just can't be happening…

"Hinata, this is Kiba… he will be your future husband." Said the man with long brown hair, lavender eyes… his brown robes had the yin-yang symbol on the back… the mark of the Hyuuga clan… Hinata couldn't believe this… there was no way that she could love this man. There was no way that she could…

"Father… I… I can't marry him."

"And why is that Hinata?"

"I do not love him."

"Hinata, it is not your choice on who you marry."

"Why though? Everyone has a right to choose who they are to marry! You love mother don't you? Isn't that why you chose her? Why can't I be with someone that I love and who loves me…"

"You will learn to love him."

"No I won't!" Shouted Hinata before she started to walk away, not bothering to listen to her father… yes, she loves her father without a doubt but… for her to marry someone that has no feelings for her, nor any feelings for him… what was the point? Just what was the point in marrying anyone that has no feelings for you? Or any kind of feelings in the relationship… just what was the point in it?

"Wait Hinata," shouted a male's voice, the sound of footsteps could clearly be heard in the halls. Sighing softly, Hinata turned around and stared at Kiba as he ran to catch up with her… his breathing was short as if he had just ran a marathon… though, she knew that wasn't possible. She hadn't even gotten that far from the hall in the first place…

"What is it Kiba-kun?"

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry… it wasn't my idea to get married yet… but, I hope that we can work this out…"

Hinata just stared at him, wondering why he wanted this all to work out… was it because he was a gold digger? Was he after her fortune because she was the heir to her clan? It was the only thing that she could think of, for why else try so hard to get this to work in the first place?

"I'm sorry Kiba, but I don't think it could ever work out…"

Kiba grabbed her wrist saying "look Hinata; if you don't marry me you will lose your families honor… I won't cause-"

"Because you're a man, men don't lose their honor, it's only the woman that do."

Another person that thought that women didn't have any rights… lovely, trying to pull her wrist away from him, Hinata stared at Kiba, seeing that his grip was tightening and that he was angry. Not enough to slap her, but enough to know that she wasn't behaving like a normal woman should… and that was something that irritated her to no end.

Ripping her hand away from him, Hinata slapped Kiba across the face, not able to handle this anymore. The idea of being stuck to someone that only wanted her for her money… for treating her like a slave instead of a human being…

Growling, Kiba narrowed her eyes as he said "you little bitch… slapping your future husband…" He grabbed her shoulder and threw her against the wall and narrowed his eyes on her. Which made the young woman cower in fear, thinking that she had pushed her luck right about now thinking that this was the end for her… though what she hadn't expected was for him to grab her kimono and glare at her…

"You no longer have any honor Hinata Hyuuga… your family shall remain in dishonor until a future descendant can make up for your mistake. No matter what you do you worthless piece of filth, you will never reclaim your families honor." Kiba growled out before walking out of the hall.

Hinata didn't know how long she had sat there on the floor… her eyes open wide with shock and fear. She had… just lost her families honor just by… slapping a man? Taking a deep breath, Hinata rose to her feet and tried to think of something… anything that… that would help her forget about what had happened… Sniffling, she walked out of her family home and thought that maybe a nice walk would help her relax… help her forget that she was stripped of honor…

She felt so empty… it was as if she really did lose something…

The young lavender eyed woman didn't know how long she had walked for. Or how far… all she knew was that she didn't feel any better right now… she had to make things right… had to find a way to regain her lost honor so her family may be known as a great clan once more.

But nothing came to mind for her…

She couldn't think of anything that would bring back her family honor… Sniffling, Hinata wiped her eyes with the back of her hands; she wasn't even sure why she was crying… _'Maybe it was because I was called filth…'_ She thought to herself, thinking it was the only other thing that made sense right now. Sighing, Hinata kept on walking, not really paying attention to what she was doing…

Though, her mind was thrown back at her when she bumped into something…

"Hey, you okay?"

Hinata looked up when she couldn't see his face very well… all she could make out was beautiful blue eyes… It was a moonless night, and none of the lanterns were lit, so she knew that he couldn't see her either… maybe only her eyes…

"Aren't you…?"

Before Hinata let the man finish, she had ran off back to her manor. There was no way that she was going to let another gold digger try to marry her. It would only ruin her honor even more… and she has none left to take… Once Hinata had ran on home, she sulked in her room, trying to think of a lie to tell her parents… "Easier said than done sadly…" She whispered to herself, only to lie down, wondering what she could do to regain the honor for the Hyuuga Clan… but, it seemed like no matter what she thought of, it wouldn't help with anything… her family, would be forever shamed because of what she believed in…

Yawning, the young woman looked out her window one last time and thought maybe, just maybe she could find out her true path in life… everyone has one, even her… With that, she had drifted off to sleep.


	2. Choice

_My life couldn't get worse could it? I had just lost my honor due to the fact that I wouldn't marry someone that wouldn't have any feelings for me, nor me for him… Life for the modern woman was not fair, I felt like this world only revolved around men… that men were the only ones that could make a difference in this world…_

_But today, I'm going to do something stupid… stupid, stupid, stupid… for if I get caught, I won't just lose my life, but my family will NEVER regain its honor no matter how many years passed… all in order to save my father from his own death… but, I'm going to ask myself this…_

_Am I doing the right thing? _

Sighing softly, Hinata lied on the bed since she had gone to sleep late last night. She hadn't had any kind of sleep though… no matter how hard she tried, it was as if something had kept her up… a strange voice rang in her ears, telling her that it was her fault for not doing as she had been told… but, another voice told her that she had done the right thing…

But because of those voices, Hinata didn't know what she was to do… she didn't know which voice was right… which voice was telling her the truth… was she to marry Kiba and regain the family's lost honor or… or was she to do something else?

No matter what she thought of, she just couldn't think of anything that could or would help regain her lost honor… Frowning, the young woman looked at the ceiling, thinking that maybe if she stayed in her room today, that her father wouldn't find out… she knew how much honor meant to him… for him losing the tending's in his leg, he wouldn't be able to fight any more for him to maintain the honor himself…

Unless Hinata's sister could do something to regain the honor… there was still time to do that right?

The sound of her stomach rumbling caused her to sit up… she knew that she would have to get herself something to eat… (And try to avoid her father) Yawning, the young woman walked out of her room after putting on a robe to keep the chill off of her… everything was strange in the Hyuuga Manor; everything was decorated as if they were still outside… the soft smell of cherry blossoms hung in the air…

Making it almost seem as if they were still near the trees that surrounded their home, making this place almost seem magical… Sighing softly, the young woman walked down the hall and into the main dining hall, where she was greeted by her father, mother and sister… this could not be good… She had to pretend that nothing bad had happened yesterday, it was the only way to make sure that everything seemed normal right now…

Taking a deep breath, Hinata sat down next to her sister and happily started to eat her eggs and bacon, not really sure what was going to happen… the day had just been filled with nothing but depression, and right now… she needed something to help lighten up the day and forget about the problem that she had been given yesterday.

The only person that knew about the problem was possibly Hanabi, since she was smart and knew that Hinata wouldn't want to marry someone that she didn't love… Sighing softly, the young woman took a bite of her egg and looked off blankly into the distance, thinking that she could still hear Kiba's voice… it just wouldn't leave her alone…

Shaking her head, Hinata looked up at her father and saw that he looked like he was in pain… was his leg bothering him again? Tilting her head to the side, Hinata asked "is everything okay papa?" His only responds was a nod, which made Hinata think that he was lying right about now… But she knew… just knew that he didn't want to talk about his leg, ever since it had gotten injured like that he hated to talk about it, knowing that he would never be able to fight ever again…

Letting out a deep breath, Hinata finished up her meal and walked to the kitchen and placed her plate in the sink. Thinking that a nice walk would do her some good… or even grooming her horse… Giving a small smile, she walked over to the stables once she was outside and saw the black horse with a beautiful gray main and matching grey tail… Though, on its forehead was the marking of yang, the white part of the Hyuuga Clan's symbol with a black dot…

It had always confused Hinata why her horse had that marking on its forehead but… it just made her horse all the more unique… Yawning, the young woman hoped up on the horse's back, gently tapping her ankles into the horses' side to tell her to go on. As she rode, Hinata was wondering why she heard such a large commotion outside of her home…

Though, she thought it to be nothing… there wasn't a point in trying to figure what was happening… not yet anyway… but, a voice in the back of her mind kept telling her to check it out… rubbing the horse's head, Hinata gently tapped the horse's neck telling it to turn and head toward the door. Staring at the gate, Hinata saw that there was a strange man in the road… he looked like he was around the same age as her… maybe even a few years older…

Other men surrounded the blonde haired man… holding weapons such as knives or daggers… it looked like a common battle with thugs and someone that possibly couldn't defend himself…

"Just hand over your money and we'll not hurt you." Said one of the men, Hinata guessed belonged in the other side of the village… though, she just stared at the blonde… he had long blonde hair tied back in a small ponytail, but there were two locks that hung at the sides of his head… Hinata thought that he looked familiar… He was wearing a huge orange robe with black flames decorating it… it suited him perfectly…

"What makes you think that you can hurt me? You, on the other hand are pathetic, more so than other people I've seen in my entire life." Said the blonde as he slowly lifted his head, revealing a pair of beautiful sparkling ocean blue eyes… she couldn't believe this… a shade of blue that looked as if you were swimming in the ocean just by staring at them…

The blonde haired man rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder, revealing the whisker marks on his cheeks… and to her, Hinata had never seen a more handsome man in her entire life…

One of the men charged, throwing his fist to punch the blonde man in the face… Hinata almost screamed but gasped when she saw the blonde bending backward till his hands touched the ground, lifting his leg to kick the attacker under the chin, sending him into the air. He landed back on his feet and jumped in the air, punching the man in the stomach than twirled in the air, kicking him in the side.

The other two men just narrowed their eyes and charged once the blonde male had landed on the ground he lifted his arms as if he was ready to punch the men… but just as they were mere inches from the blonde, the strangest thing had happened…

The men had just fallen over with bruises on their faces… but… how?

Shaking her head, the blonde man lowered his hands and started to walk away… but just as he had turned around one of the men had rose to their feet and charged at the blonde holding a dagger. Hinata screamed out "look out!" The blonde had turned around, but even he hadn't expected the attack, for the dagger had hit his face, the force made him turn his head… Hinata almost screamed in horror that is… until the blonde had twirled and went into a full circle before slamming his fist into the man's stomach, sending him into the wall that was near them with a force that didn't seem possible.

Hinata's eyes were wide with shock… but, mostly with fascination… she had never seen anyone that could fight like him… not even her father fought like… like… "A demon…" She whispered softly, though, when she had whispered that, the man turned and stared at her with what looked like a harsh stare… his eyes burned holes into her… it was like he was going to burn her with his intense stare…

"What are you staring at?" He growled out, his eyes glowed with anger and… hatred? She wasn't sure why he looked like that… but, it was as if… he thought that she was staring at him with disgusts and hate… but why? The young woman shook her head and got off of the horse, running toward the man.

He tried to get away from her, as if he was afraid of her… But, Hinata didn't know why he would do that… Frowning, she slowly lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek, near the cut that was oozing small traces of blood from the hit… Frowning, she used her sleeve and gently started to wipe the cut that was on his left cheek.

The blonde man just stared at Hinata with confused yet soft eyes. Trying to figure her out… that was what Hinata could see… but, why he would stare at her like that, she'll never know… Giving a soft smile, she calmly said 'it isn't deep… it'll heal up… good thing your skin's tan or you'd notice the scar…"

The blonde man just stared at Hinata, gently grabbing her slender wrist in his strong hand… which had made the young woman blush a soft pink.

"Why did you come near me? Do you not fear me?"

"Why would I fear you when you've done nothing but defend yourself…?"

The blonde man blinked at her in both shock, and surprise… he hadn't expected her to be nice to him? That was strange… he seemed like a nice man… sure, there was this strange… feeling about him. As if he was dangerous… that just being around him could get her killed… and yet, she wasn't afraid of him.

Hinata tilted her head as she stared at him, wondering why he kept staring at her like that… though, she only smiled at him… trying to tell him that he was worrying over nothing, that there wasn't a reason to fear him… that _she_ didn't have a reason to fear him. He gently let go of her wrist and stared at her with soft eyes… something that she didn't think she could ever see on a man before…

The pink that was in her cheeks, had deepened and became a soft red, maybe close to crimson… why was this man affecting her so much? She had never felt like this before… her heart was pounding in her chest, she could clearly hear her pulse increasing… Shaking her head, the young woman just smiled at him as she said "I… I should leave; you look like you're busy…"

Frowning, the blonde nodded, Hinata felt bad for saying what she had said… but knew that she should put the horse back inside… since, it was starting to rain… and for her, it would only just suddenly start to rain if something bad was going to happen…

When she stared at the blonde man, Hinata saw that his hair was starting to plaster to his face, but she thought that she saw something sticking out at the sides of his head. He quickly pulled a hood over his head and started to walk away… Hinata frowned, wondering if she would ever see him again… She hoped so… Sighing, Hinata walked over to her horse and pulled her back into the stable… hoping that this rain wasn't a bad omen…

"Hinata… I heard from Kiba's father… you refused to marry him. Why is that young lady?"

Hinata gulped, she knew… just knew that her father would find out… it was only lunch hour and yet… he found out… Letting out a soft and gentle sigh, she stared at her father with sad eyes. "I couldn't marry him…" She began, trying to find the right words that would make this seem a little better than it seemed… Looking down at her lap, the young woman continued. "I didn't love him… and… and it seemed like he was only after our fortune… I won't marry someone that doesn't love me for me."

Her father sighed, rubbing his forehead, he stared at his eldest daughter trying to figure something out… she had a feeling that it wouldn't be anything good. Not one bit, not in the least… Hinata tightly shut her eyes, preparing for the worst… preparing for what he was going to say that would possibly decide her fate.

"Hinata, you lost our family honor… you'll have to marry another man to regain it."

"But father-"

"No buts Hinata!"

Hinata winced, knowing that her father was already angry, that he was trying to hold in his anger so not to scream and yell at her for being so stupid… But… before anything else could be said, there was a loud noise outside… almost as if it was the sound of a summon horn… Her entire family rose to their feet and walked outside; knowing that the sound of this horn meant that everyone had to go outside, for that the Emperor's Counsel had arrived to give an announcement.

But, what she had heard… Hinata wished that she hadn't…

"Each male from every clan shall attend… We will need all men to fight the dreaded Orochimaru in this war to save Konoha…"

Hinata almost gasped in shock… this can't be true… this just can't be… Why? Why do they… aren't their armies big enough to not depend on the men of the village? Shaking her head, Hinata listened to the names that were going off… One by one, the names were being listed…

"The Akimichi Clan!"

Hinata frowned, this wasn't good… but, at least it didn't seem like they were going after her family… yet… Maybe they know that her father can't fight anymore…

"The Akadou Clan!"

So far, so good… Hinata wasn't sure if the people that she had grown up with wouldn't be able to handle the war… She knew that they wouldn't… they hadn't been trained to fight in any kind of war… And yet, they just couldn't fight in this war… she knew that. More and more people's names had been called, most of them were men around her age… very few were near her father's age…

The thought of her father being in the war… it made her heart ache… But, she had hoped that the blonde man wasn't going to get involved in this war… she wanted to meet him again yes but… had hoped that it would be different situation…

But, the next name that he had said… it made her blood run cold…

"The Hyuuga Clan!"

Hinata ran in front of her father saying "please no! My father can't fight; his leg is too injured to allow him to fight!" But the man that rode the horse… he just glared at her and swung his staff at Hinata and hit her in the face, causing her to fall over.

"Tell your daughter to learn her place in this world. That a woman has no right to talk back to a man."

Hanabi ran to Hinata and helped her up, but just as Hinata got to her feet, the girl's father whispered "Hinata… you give me dishonor…" Hinata's eyes widened in shock… her father had just… Hanabi helped Hinata into the house, knowing that Hinata needed to sit down… maybe even lie down… it was for the best right now.

Dinner was quite… no one could understand why it was so quiet, but the tension was strong in this room. Everyone knew that there was a strong tension between Hinata and her father… Hanabi could sense it and so could their mother…

Hinata stared at the bowl of rice that was in front of her… she wasn't sure what she could do… she wanted to tell her father that… no, she'll tell him… She had to talk to him. Slamming her hands on the table, Hinata glared at her father saying "what are you thinking papa! You'll get yourself killed! They have lots of other younger men, why can't Neji do this? He's the man of the Hyuuga Clan, he could easily do this!"

"I honor and love my village."

"Forget honor papa! We all love you and wish that you to live for a long time!" Shouted Hinata, tears streaming down her face but… what had happened next half surprised her since this had happened to her twice today and… half shocked her for her father had slapped her across the face. Hinata looked at her father and rubbed her red cheek, her eyes watering up with tears…

Getting up, Hinata ran outside, back into the rain… she knew that it would still be raining but at the moment she didn't care. It could rain for hours and hours and she wouldn't give a damn right now… Hiding in the arms of one of the many statues that were hidden away in the family's manor, Hinata cried to herself, trying to think on what she could do to stop her father from going…

She knew that if she burned the scroll, that it would only dishonor her family even more…

_'But what if I took the scroll and went in his place?'_ She thought to herself, thinking that maybe… just maybe she could pretend to be a man… It was worth a shot… But, it would be hard for her to pretend to be a man… unless she always wore her father's armour and had wraps around her breasts to flatten them out… Shaking her head, Hinata went to the shrine that had the names of her ancestors; giving them one final prayer… this would be her chance…

This would be her way to regain the Hyuuga Honor… Looking at the family guardian's and the stones with her ancestors names, she lit incense and placed it on one of the hanging incense holders and made a quick prayer… "Please protect myself… my family… please, help me regain my family's honor…" She whispered with her hands folded together and her eyes closed.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata looked up and ran back into the rain… walked to the hall just in time to hear her parents talking…

"Dear… should you have slapped Hinata?"

"I didn't mean too… I… I was just so angry… Hinata is a free spirit, I know that and…" He sighed softly as he continued… "But I want her to be happy…"

"Maybe you shouldn't go into the war… Hinata was right; you can't fight with your leg like this… You can't even walk without your leg acting up on you…"

There was silence; Hinata knew that her father wasn't going to answer right now… Maybe he didn't have an answer right now… Maybe he just couldn't answer her at all… "I'll tell her I'm sorry in the morning…" Hinata wouldn't be here in the morning… she would be gone to the war… to pretend to be the son that her father always wanted… As soon as she was sure that they were sound asleep, Hinata walked into their room, trying to be as quite as possible…

Looking over at the sleeping faces of her parents, Hinata knew that she either wouldn't be seeing them for a long time or at all… but she had to do something… Taking a deep breath, she picked up the scroll and replaced it with a hair pin that her father had given her as a child…

Giving a sad smile, the young woman walked into the back room after leaving her parents' bedroom and went to the closet that had her father's armour. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the ribbon that she had in her pocket and pulled her hair in a high ponytail, since all the men in the army did that, to keep their hair out of their face.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata looked up and put on the dark black and white armour on… Slipping on the armour over her head and had it tied around her waist to make sure that it wouldn't slide off of her body… Next, she wrapped around the skirt-like padding that is used to protect their thighs from any low blows.

Looking up at the closet, Hinata saw that there was the sword with a black hilt and a white guard… Taking a deep breath, Hinata grabbed the sword and tied it around the sash around her waist and went to the horse… today, she was leaving her home… and she would make sure that honor had returned to the Hyuuga Clan…


	3. Camp

_People say that when you do something dangerous, that your ancestors send a guardian to protect you. To make sure that you returned to your loved ones… But, well… I was expecting more than what I got for my guardian. He is a good person to talk too yes, but sadly I felt like he expected so much more… And, to top it off he wasn't really protecting me, more like encouraging me to keep doing reckless things._

_Was that what my ancestors wanted from me? To fight and win this war to bring back my family honor? I think maybe, just maybe that I had bitten off more than I could chew at the moment… for, I didn't not just fit in but I felt like I just made myself some enemies in the camp._

"Think I could do this girl? Think I could be a man in the army?" asked Hinata as she looked up at her horse, for the past hour the young woman had done nothing but try to act manly, but sadly… it wasn't going as she had planned. For it seemed that with each try that it would only make her seem just plain silly…

Sighing, Hinata sat down and ran her fingers through her now down hair… she had taken it out of its high ponytail a little while ago, thinking that there wasn't a point in doing that when she wasn't even around anyone in the army… Frowning, Hinata stood up on her feet and turned around as she said "okay, let's try this again kay?"

Clearing her throat, Hinata tried to deepen her throat a bit to help make her sound more like a girl rather than a woman. "Hello, tell me where my tent is? I've been traveling all day and dealing with a bunch of pricks that tried to take my horse."

Her horse just stared at her with a calm stare, though Hinata could have sworn that her horse raised an eyebrow at her. Sighing, Hinata didn't think she'd ever pull it off… There was no way that she'd be able to get in the army at this rate… there was just no way that it would be possible now… It'd take a miracle at this rate. Tying her hair back in a high ponytail, Hinata looked at her horse once more as she said "I don't think I'd be able to do it… maybe I should just go home…"

"If you do that, than you shall truly bring dishonor to your family." Said a mysterious voice that… almost sounded like a man… Hinata wasn't really sure but knew that it had to be a man's voice.

Shaking her head, Hinata looked around trying to find the source of the voice… but she didn't see anyone here with her… that was strange… Scratching the back of her head, Hinata kept on walking but the voice spoke up once again.

"Is this really the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan? Really? Jeez girl come on! You want to save your father and regain the family honor right? Than just go to the camp and learn the ropes."

"Who's there!" shouted Hinata, reaching for her sword hoping that it wasn't some stalker or anything… if that was the case than she was doomed… looking around, the young woman tried to find the source of the voice, but sadly, it had gone quite again… dang… where could the voice have gone now?

Though, when Hinata turned she saw a bolder and thought that maybe… just maybe the man was hiding behind there… this was her chance! This was her chance to get the man while he wasn't paying attention! Taking a deep quite breath, she started to tip toe to the bolder, readying her sword for the right moment to strike. This was the only way to make sure that he didn't see her coming…

Just as she raised the sword high in the sky, something popped out from behind the bolder was… a man with strange dragon spiraling around his arms, up to his face had the dragon's jaws painted around his eyes, nose and lips… She didn't know who this man could possibly be, but he was a little scary looking…

"Who are you?" asked Hinata as she held her sword at point blank, no way was she going to let this man frighten her at all… there was just no way that she was going to let that happen…

"My names Ryu, I am one of your family's guardian's… I've been sent by your ancestors to come and protect you and make sure that you're safe…"

Hinata did not believe this guy… he thought that she'd believe her ancestors sent him to protect her? Yeah right… that just didn't seem possible… Getting a closer look at this guy, she saw that his eyes were golden like the sun… he had black slits for pupils, (least if you looked closely enough) his hair was black with a crimson streak that zig zagged from the back of his head down to the bangs that hung in his eyes.

As for his clothes, he looked like some kind of ancient warrior… maybe he was telling the truth, but at the moment she just couldn't… but, on the other hand she was a woman signing up for the army as a man… Shaking her head, she just stared at him, holding the tip of the sword at his throat… she had a few things that she wanted to ask… "Okay, if you are my family's guardians… tell me this… what is my family's sacred art of fighting?"

Ryu didn't flinch with the blade at his neck. He just stared at her for a moment as he calmly said "your family's style of fighting style is of hand thrusts, using your own chakra as your own weapon. An art long thought forgotten since the time of ninja's haven't been needed for quite some time but only in the time of wars such as now thus, the reason why they wanted your father to join."

She just stared in shock… no one knew that but the head clans and she knew for a fact that he wasn't a head clan of anything… she's met the clan heads when she was a child and did not recall him at all… so… did that mean that he was telling the truth?

Taking a deep breath, Hinata dropped the sword and placed it back in her sheath before turning away and stared through the trees that surrounded the area… sighing softly, Hinata turned back to Ryu and stared at him as she asked "so you can help me get into the army? How? Wouldn't people notice someone helping me?"

"No one can see me but those of the Hyuuga Clan and your future husband." Calmly said Ryu, his golden eyes sparkled through his black bangs when the sun hit them…

Though, Hinata was a little relieved that no one would be able to see him but herself and her future husband… whoever that would be. Taking a deep breath, Hinata sat back down, trying to think on something else… Ryu looked down at Hinata and calmly said "you'll need a name… you can't go by Hinata, people already know that your father as a daughter named Hinata…"

"Oh, and what name would you pick Ryu?"

"Well, you'd need a strong name…"

Hinata didn't think of that though, but she knew that she'd have to pick a boy's name… but never thought of picking a strong boys name… that would be tough to do… Thinking it over, Hinata tried to think of different boy's names that she had heard from stories… names that she could remember but were also tough… but what name could she use?

"How about Yuudai?"

Ryu just raised an eyebrow at Hinata but nodded. That sounded like a good idea. Hinata just smiled and grabbed her horses harness and started to walk out of the forest and toward the camp. "So, what is your horses name?" asked Ryu as they walked, knowing fully well that he can't only call the horse 'horse' it was just stupid…

Hinata frowned in deep thought… it would make sense to tell him the name of her horse since Ryu might want to chat with someone besides herself or to even keep an eye on her… "Her names Usagi" calmly said Hinata as she kept on walking. It was best to get this done now while she had a chance… As she walked, the young woman saw the camp coming closer and closer.

And with each step she felt herself getting a little sicker and sicker to her stomach… No matter what it just wouldn't stop either… it bothered her a little bit, but she knew that there was a slight chance that they would find out that she was a woman… she knew that may happen while she was here… But, Hinata knew that she had to take the chance to save her father… it was the only way… the only way to save him.

"If you're so nervous Hinata, they'll sense that you do not belong there."

"You try being in my shoes Ryu…" Hinata whispered softly, she walked through the camp, seeing that everyone was just chatting among themselves, some men polishing their swords. Some picking their feet with chopsticks… gross. Then there was a man blabbing about how a sacred talisman was going to protect him from harm.

Though, she highly doubted that would happen.

The man that stood before the strange talisman wearing man with a raised eyebrow, as if he was bored out of his mind, he had short black hair in the shape of a duck's rear end, his eyes black as onyx… his clothes were of a blue long sleeved shirt that drabbed down to his waist, draping down into two long strips of cloth on the front and back, splits on the sides to make room for if he was going to kick someone so to speak. His pants on the other hand, were white as snow and tightly wrapped themselves around his ankles leaving nothing but slipper-like shoes.

She remembered him; he's Sasuke Uchiha, the second son of the head of the Uchiha clan.

The boy next to him had his hair pulled back in a ponytail, though what confused her most was that his head almost looked like a pineapple… His poster was slouched a bit; he looked more bored than Sasuke… Closer inspection the boy wore clothes similar to Sasuke's but instead, a little shorter, just reaching his knees. The top was white and the pants were dark as the night… the same with his shoes…

Hinata felt like she was sticking out terribly…

"Calm down Hinata, nothing bad will happen so long as you act like a man." Calmly said Ryu as if it was normal for a woman to act like a man… who, in her case it wasn't. Hinata knew that it wasn't normal for a woman to dress up as a man… that it wasn't normal for a woman to act like a man. It was just not normal.

"Look, looks like we have a Hyuuga in our mist." Said Sasuke, which had snapped Hinata out of her trance… great someone, noticed her already.

Gulping, Hinata looked up at Sasuke and the other boy that walked over to her… This wasn't going as she had planned… she hoped to just get to a stable to place her horse and go to her tent, simple as that… "Hello…" was all the young woman could say, she was so nervous that she didn't know what her next move should be. Well maybe run for dear life but she didn't want to risk that at the moment… not now anyway.

"Hmm… you can't be Neji Hyuuga… he has brown hair. Plus, you sort of look like a woman." Said the other boy, which made Hinata want to scream and run before they tried to find anything else 'feminine' about her, that was something that she didn't need or want!

"No, Neji couldn't come…"

"Right, he was helping his wife right?"

Hinata tried to sneak away from the two chatting boys, least they had found someone else to talk about. But before she could get away, Hinata felt someone grab her ponytail and pull her back. Yelping, Hinata turned and saw that Sasuke had grabbed her and just stared at her with disapproving in his eyes. "Just where you think you're going?" said Sasuke with a bit of a growl in his voice.

"To put my horse somewhere?" said Hinata, which sounded more like a question than an answer.

"I don't think so… we got questions for you to answer boy." Said the other boy as he walked over to Hinata and Sasuke, damn… it would have been better if he stayed in the corner or something… least she didn't have to bother him or something.

Gulping, Hinata tried to get away from them, but sadly Sasuke had a firm hold on her ponytail and the other boy grabbed her shoulder.

"Guys, why are you bothering this girlish looking man?" said a tall man as he walked over to them. He had pale looking skin; it was almost white as a sheet. Dark eyes almost like Sasuke's and dark hair to boot.

_'Now what, what is this guy going to do?'_ thought Hinata with a frown, she didn't have time for this!

"We just want to ask a few questions. Nothing more Sai, come on… the only Hyuuga from the main household that's a man is the head. He only had two daughters and his nephew is gone so he couldn't come to the war." Said Sasuke as he spoke to the white skinned man, who she guessed was Sai.

"That is true Sasuke, but this feminine man as a right to do as he pleases."

Does he really have to keep saying that? It just makes it more obvious that she's a she… Hinata frowned and did the only thing that she could do in a situation like this. Slamming her head back, Hinata heard Sasuke yelp and let go of her hair. Taking that chance, the young blue haired woman ran as far and as fast as her legs could carry.

"Get him!" shouted Sasuke, his nose bleeding a little bit from the hit. Sasuke, the pineapple head man ran after her. While Sai stayed back and shook his head in disappointment.

Hinata ran through other tents, seeing shocked men and men that just raised their eyebrows at her in confusion. All she knew was that she had to get away from them. Hinata even ran into the cooking tent, for she tripped over a pot making stew and rice and rolled on the ground.

The other men had started to fight each other, mostly hoping to grab Hinata.

"What the hell is going on here?" Roared a new voice, Hinata thought that she had heard that voice somewhere before… but she couldn't place it. But what she did know was that it made her heart pound in her chest.

"He did it!" shouted everyone as they moved away from Hinata and pointed at her like children… aren't they supposed to be men? Not kids? Hinata heard footsteps coming toward her, she was afraid to look up… but she knew that she would have too at some point right? Gulping, Hinata slowly lifted her head and almost gasped at who she saw…

It was the blonde man from yesterday…

"Captain Uzumaki, you should be careful…" said a man with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. He wore simple robes of the royal adviser… someone that Hinata had only met once in her life and that was when the leader empress arrived to her home years ago…

"Who are you?" growled Captain Uzumaki as he grabbed Hinata's upper arm and pulled her up to stand on her feet. Hinata was almost speechless… she wasn't sure what to do or say… her eyes were wide with shock at seeing him again… the blue haired woman had hoped to see him again but… she hadn't expected to see him in the war or to even be the captain of the army. "I'll ask again, who are you." demanded Captain Uzumaki.

"I'm Yuudai Hyuuga…"

"Hyuuga huh, let me see your papers…"

Nodding, Hinata reached into her armour and pulled out the scroll that she had taken from her father. Captain Uzumaki let go of her arm and started to read the paper quickly, only to raise an eyebrow at her. "Hiashi Hyuuga… thee Hiashi Hyuuga?"

"I didn't know he had a son… I thought he only had two girls…" said the brown haired man next to Captain Uzumaki.

"My father doesn't talk about me much. Likes to keep me a secret, I'm a twin of Hinata Hyuuga." Said Hinata, trying to sound manly but found it to be a bit difficult… Uzumaki raised an eyebrow at her, coming close… face to face. Hinata tightly closed her eyes thinking that he was going to yell at her but… instead opened her eyes when she saw that Uzumaki's eyes were shut and he was… sniffing her?

"Hmm… Alright…" He pulled back with a serious look on his face. Hinata didn't know why he smelt her but it looks like he allowed her to stay… that was a plus. Hinata couldn't help but smile, least she could stay and keep her father safe from this war. Just as she was about to leave, Hinata froze at what he said next. "I want you all to clean everything up. Fix the destroyed tents and make sure that everything is spic and span by tonight. Your training starts tomorrow understood? Also, thank your new buddy Yuudai for that."

With that, Uzumaki went into his tent, Hinata wanted to just die at that point… for the men all around her sent death glares her way… not, what she had planned for her first day at all… As for Ryu, he just stared and shook his head at her as if disappointed in her… What the hell did he want from her?


	4. Danger

_I knew that this training would be hard… I knew that a lot of people didn't like me because they thought I was weak and stupid. Sure, I may not look strong or anything but, that cannot be helped… right? Ryu wasn't really much help… all he did was follow me and of course, trying to get me to cheat in practice… I don't understand why he would, but I kept thinking he had a higher motive…_

_But what I did know, was that Captain Uzumaki had a strange look when he stared at me… like he knew me from somewhere, I hope he doesn't know that I'm a woman, I can't afford to die here yet, not before regaining my family's honor. But, there is one last thing that I just don't understand about Captain Uzumaki…_

_He seems to always wear big heavy clothes, even when it's hot out… he seems like he is hiding something… whatever it was…_

Hinata didn't know why, but she knew that everyone hated her cause of what had happened yesterday… Okay, that was a lie, she knew the reason why the reason why. They hated her cause she had made them all clean up the mess from yesterday. Sighing softly, there was only so few people that didn't hate her. Though, she knew that she would have to get through this somehow…

But how was she supposed to prove that she was able to do whatever they were able to do? Shaking her head, Hinata pulled herself from her sleeping bag and grabbed her hair tie to pull her hair up into a high ponytail. Looking around, the young woman knew that it would be hard to keep posing as a man… it was hard enough as it was. Sighing, she grabbed her bandages and wrapped them around her chest to give her the 'man-chest' that she knew she would need even if it did make it hard to breath.

Looking over at the side of the tent, Hinata saw that Ryu was sitting down crossed legged staring at her with his bored stare. Was that just how always looked or was he angry about something? She didn't know and had a feeling that she never would. Sighing, Hinata the outfit that they had made for her to wear.

It looked just like the one her father used to wear when he trained her… but, sadly it was made for a man, but it would have to do for her training in the war. Once she slid on her shoes the young woman walked out of the tent and ran to catch up with everyone. Ryu followed her as he said "you better hope that Captain Uzumaki doesn't notice that you're a woman."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, but Uzumaki makes me uneasy. I sense something in him that I haven't sensed for a long time."

Hinata didn't know why, but maybe Ryu was right… she did sense something in Uzumaki that shouldn't be there but… it didn't make her afraid of him. Not yet anyway… But that wasn't going to stop her at the moment, she knew that she had to train and get stronger so she could help with the war.

It was going to be tough, and Hinata knew this… but she also knew that it was better than letting her father kill himself just to regain the family honor. Sighing softly, Hinata looked up and saw that the other men were already standing in line for their instructions… huh… strange but maybe that's just normal.

Once she took a spot between Sasuke and Sai, she looked at both, wondering if they were still mad at her… Sai just smiled at her before looking forward. As for Sasuke, he just glared at her before looking forward. Least one didn't seem made at her… Sighing softly, Hinata looked up and saw that Captain Uzumaki walked out, wearing a long sleeved shirt and hakama's… That was something she didn't think he's wear in this weather…

"Today, we're going to practice with bows and arrows. I want you to shoot these fruit into those targets." Naruto said as he pointed at a tree with three circles on it. Hinata didn't think that she would be able to do that… she's never used a bow and arrow before and it made her worry about it. Staring at the other tree's that were lined up, Uzumaki calmly said "I want you all to practice understand? You have two hours, and then we'll switch over to the next task."

Nodding softly, Hinata and the others took a spot by a wooden plank with some pomegranates… Guessing that it was used to launch the fruit in the air so she can shoot the arrow taking a deep breath, Hinata grabbed the bow and arrow getting ready to shoot… Though, Ryu just stared at her posture and shook his head. "You're going to miss."

"Shut up…" Hinata whispered, not wanting anyone to hear her. It was bad enough that she was speaking to someone that no one else can see… but now he was telling her that she was going to miss… Sure, she knew that she wouldn't make a great shot but it wasn't nice…

Before she shot the arrow, Ryu grabbed a fruit and quickly jammed it through the arrow head, making Hinata gasp. "Ryu what are you doing? That's cheating!" Hinata whimpered out, not wanting to get in trouble… Ryu just rolled his eyes at her, which only made Hinata sigh and look at the tree. There was no way that she was going to cheat… Setting down the bow, Hinata reached for the pomegranate to remove it.

"And just what are you doing Yuudai?"

Skin growing pale, Hinata turned around and saw the angry eyes of Captain Uzumaki… Damn she hated calling him by his last name… It was just so annoying… "Um… Hi Captain Uzumaki…" Did it look like that she was putting the fruit on the arrow instead of removing it?

"I was trying to remove the fruit from my arrow… Someone put it on here…"

He looked like he didn't believe her… Captain Uzumaki leaned in close enough to look at the fruit and nodded. "Your right… the force behind the fruit was made by someone with bigger hands than you." Hinata didn't know if she should be happy that he wasn't accusing her or offended… But at the moment, she didn't care, so long as she wasn't being accused than she was happy.

"I'm glad you didn't just think it was me Captain Uzumaki…"

"I don't just accuse someone without checking… I've gotten in a lot of trouble for that in the past as a child." He calmly said before walking away, Hinata sighed in content, then turned her gaze and glared at Ryu. She was so angry at him that she just couldn't speak… this was something that she didn't need right now! She can't afford to get in trouble again or there might be a slight chance of her getting kicked out before even finishing the training.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata looked at the tree and slammed her foot on the plank of wood, sending the fruit into the air and launching the arrow… She had the strength of course, but sadly, the arrow missed, and she didn't even hit the tree…

Hinata could only sigh… this, was going to be a long night.

The hours had flown by as if they were nothing… Now, Hinata and the others had to practice running on logs over running water. This can't go well but at least this was something she was good at. Being part of the Hyuuga Clan, she had perfect balance. Taking a deep breath, Hinata was about to walk on ahead till she was stopped.

"Wait Yuudai."

Turning around, Hinata looked and saw the pine apple headed guy walking over to her. He just gave a small smile as he said "look, I'm sorry about all the things me and Sasuke have done… and, I thought by making it up to you I'd make sure that you stay safe while out there… Here." The man tied a rope around her waist when he sat down on his knees.

"Thank you… um…"

"Shikamaru."

"Thank you Shikamaru." Hinata said with a smile before getting ready to run over the logs. Though, what she hadn't expected was for Shikamaru to also tie a rope around her ankle. The one, was for a false of security while the other, was to torment her.

Hinata took a deep breath and ran forward. Not noticing the second rope still, Captain Uzumaki didn't complain, guessing that she had the rope to help her if she fell into the water that she would be able to get back to shore.

Hinata ran along the logs as if they were nothing to her. Jumping, flipping, and landing on both her hands and feet. Twisting her body, Hinata spun when she would land on the wooden poles. This was so easy for her; the young woman saw that she was close to the end, this was her chance to prove that she was worthy of being in the army.

But then, something went wrong… it all happened so fast that she didn't know what had hit her.

The rope around her ankle (that she is finally noticing) had been pulled, causing her to lose her balance and fall into the river. The river was so strong and so fast that it was causing Hinata to be washed away. She screamed for help, that she couldn't swim in this kind of water. Which, was true, there was no way that she would be able to swim in this kind raging water.

The young woman didn't know how long she had screamed for… it all seemed like a blur to her…

That was when, Hinata felt something around her waist… at first, Hinata thought it was the rope that was supposed to help her if she had fallen into the water. Suddenly, Hinata felt herself being pulled to the surface of the water.

Coughing the water that had entered her lungs, Hinata weakly looked up and saw… "Captain Uzumaki?" she whispered weakly, not sure what was going on, but all she did know, was that she was a little tired and her mind was fading in and out from being under water.

"Hold on Yuudai, I'm gonna get you to shore." He calmly said, tightly holding Hinata to the side of his chest as he used his free arm to help swim to shore. Everyone was staring in shock when they saw their captain jump into the water to save Yuudai.

Once on shore, Hinata coughed when she turned to her side. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down enough… Tiredly looking in the blue eyes of the captain, she saw nothing but concern in the blue depths. Why would he be concerned about her? Taking a deep breath, Hinata whispered "I'm okay… Captain Uzumaki…"

"Naruto what happened?" asked the brown haired boy as he ran over to Hinata and Captain Uzumaki…

_'Naruto… is that, Captain Uzumaki's first name?'_

"Someone had a rope around Yuudai's waist and ankle, and pulled to make him fall in. I'm guessing that they were trying to get rid of him. Go and see if anyone has any rope alright Konohamaru?"

The young boy nodded and ran to go look for anyone that had some rope. As for Naruto and Hinata, the young blonde man stayed with Hinata to make sure that she was alright. Hinata on the other hand, she felt okay… She was just tired from almost drowning and being washed away. But at least she was alright… taking a deep breath; she whispered "I'm okay…"

"Go back to your tent and rest Yuudai. I'll deal with whoever did this alright?" calmly said Naruto as he helped Hinata to her feet. The young woman was still a little shaky but at least she had a reason to go lie down… Nodding, Hinata started to walk on to her tent, Ryu walking next to her as they made their way to the tent.

"You alright Hinata?" asked Ryu with a tilt of his head. It was easy to tell that Ryu was worried about Hinata, but she didn't think that she could talk right now… her throat was still really sore from screaming and the salt water. So, she only nodded as they kept walking. Nodding, Ryu calmly said "they'll keep tormenting you till you've earned their respect."

"How…?" was all the young woman could say... For, it was true, how was she to earn their respect when even she wasn't all that great with trying to do well with the tasks that they were given? She didn't know what was more annoying… she could already remember the one task that Naruto had given them that no one had ever been able to do…

He shot an arrow at the top of a pole, wanting them to climb up using two giant golden weights that were tied up with some kind of ropes or strong ribbon. It was impossible to do that… everyone knew that… yet, Hinata had tried anyway, wanting to prove that she was worthy of being here.

But it wasn't enough…

Before Hinata could have even gotten to the top she had fallen to the ground instead. Sighing softly, Hinata looked at the sky knowing that this camp was going to be really hard to get through… but least she did the two tasks that they were to do… there was always tomorrow to try to get more done…

But, the young woman had a feeling that no matter what she did, that no one would respect her, that they would only see someone that looked like a woman. (Even if she is one…) Sighing, Hinata looked forward and saw her tent, yawning, she opened up the tent and changed out of her wet and soggy clothes once she entered and closed her tent.

Least it was warm out today, so her clothes won't take so long to dry. Once the blue haired woman changed clothes and bandages, she hung up her wet clothes and threw out the wet bandages. There wasn't a point in trying to dry wet bandages where they would only stick up the place.

Once Hinata was sure that her clothes were secure, she turned to Ryu and told him to watch her clothes. Since he can't be seen, he could still grab things so that would be enough to keep her clothes safe at the least. Yawning, Hinata crawled into her tent and lied down, thinking about her parents… hoping that they were okay. If they missed or worried her, Hinata had a feeling that her father was angry that she had taken his armour and scroll to enter the army… but, at least it was only to keep him safe and alive.

No one else would miss her anyway…

Sighing, Hinata looked over at the side and was about to drift off to sleep until there was a voice at the mouth of her tent.

"Yuudai, I wish to speak to you." Said Naruto's voice from the other side of the tent, why was he here already? That didn't make sense at all… Sighing softly, Hinata shakily rose to her feet and opened up the tent, just thankful that she had new bandages on under her clothes to keep her 'manly' appearance.

"Is there something you need Captain Uzumaki?" asked Hinata as she stared at Naruto, he had changed into dryer clothes, still the same style and colour… just how many of these does he have? And why did he always wear big and baggy clothes anyway? Was he trying to hide something? But what could it be?

"I want to know how tied those ropes around you…" he demanded, his eyes narrowed into slits… Hinata didn't want to rat on someone just because of a little malfunction… but, she knew that she couldn't tell him or it would make her life a living nightmare… Looking away, Hinata tried to think of something to say… a lie, one that anyone would believe but what? Wait…

"I don't remember… I forgot cause of lack of air reaching my brain…" That was something that could work right? Right… no… there was no way that he would fall for that…

"Naruto leaned in close to Hinata, trying to figure out if she was lying… he had this strange look on his face as he stared at her… did he know that she was lying? Or was he just trying to figure out if she was telling the truth? It had to be something, but what that was the young woman wasn't sure what it was.

"Alright… I'll find out on my own then Yuudai…"

With that said, Naruto started to walk away, but the young woman had a feeling that he was on to her about her being a woman. But, what can she do about that? What can she say or do to prevent him from finding out about her being a woman instead of a man? That would be a challenge in itself… Though, as he walked away, Hinata thought that she saw something…

Was Naruto hiding something about himself just like how she was hiding the fact that she was really a woman instead of a man? If that was the case what could he be hiding? If only she had a better look at it… Sighing, Hinata walked back into her tent and lied down on her sleeping bag and looked at the roof of her tent.

_'What are you hiding Captain? If there is anything that you're hiding, would you trust anyone with your secret? Or, is it something so horrible that you can't risk letting anyone know because it would result in your death?'_ thought the young woman before falling asleep.


	5. Note

**quick note**

**since I never finished this story ahead of time, the updates will be slow since I am working on a few NaruHina fanfics, the other two I'm working on are not on here and won't be for a while, I'm trying to post one story at a time on here and cause I have them on hold for a little while, I am gonna try to finish this and a few Inuyasha stories before going back to the other ones. But, if you want to read them, please check them on my DA account which my user name on there is pretty much the same there as it is on here**

**fire-inu-princess**

**and the stories you would might like are Kyuubi Phantom, and Cute Vampire**

**so please enjoy and thank you for taking your time to read this note, oh and before I forget, I am currently working on the next chapter to this story I estiment I'm close to 50 percent done, I'm not sure since I am making it up as I go along**


	6. Training

_The training was tough… I didn't think that I would ever be able to handle it. But what I did know was that I had to keep doing this, for if I don't I would lose even more honor than I already have from refusing to marry. Though, there was still something that bothered me._

_Why did everyone hate me already? Sure I know that I did make everyone clean up a mess that was made when Shikamaru and Sasuke were chasing me through the camp._

_I can't help it… they were chasing me and now, they hate me enough to want to get rid of me. Less they weren't planning that part through. But today's training was hard… we had a lot to catch up this time… For today, we were doing different tasks to prove our worth…_

Hinata groaned… she hated waking up so early in the morning for training. But, she knew that she would have too at some point. Rubbing her eyes, the young woman did her usual morning ritual… Pulling her hair up into a high ponytail, grabbed the fabric she uses to wrap around her chest… It gets harder for her to wrap it when she was tired…

Once that was done, she put her clothes on and ran outside to get some breakfast… least they had time to eat before their training…

As she waited in line for some rice, Hinata wondered what her life would be like after this training… would she be stronger? Would she… be able to regain her honor? Sighing, Hinata stared at the cook and asked for some rice before running her hand through her bangs that came out of her ponytail.

"Yo Yuudai, feeling better from your swim yesterday?"

Hinata turned around and glared at Shikamaru and Sasuke… she knew that they had planned for her to fail that task on the logs… there was no way that she was going to let them get the better of her. She was better than to let people get the best of her.

Though, Hinata knew that no one would go her way if she started a fight… that was the last thing that she wanted right about now.

Right now, she had to focus on completing the tasks that were given to her in order to build up her strength. Sure, it would be nice to earn some respect here but… at this rate that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. But right now, she had to focus on getting something in her stomach before their training for the day began.

As she waited for her meal, Hinata couldn't help but look up at the wooden pole… it was maybe twenty feet tall… It was one of the tasks that no one was able to complete. For, Naruto wanted them to climb up that pole with two weights around their wrists to reach the arrow.

But that task was impossible.

Sighing, Hinata got her meal and walked over to her table. No one wanted to talk to her, thinking that she was just too weird… that she didn't belong there with them.

Maybe it was true? She didn't know and didn't really care at the moment.

Sighing, Hinata looked over to her left and of course, there was Ryu just staring at her. "You know Hinata… at this rate you'll never earn their respect." She already knew that part… unless she could perform miracles there was no way that she was going to earn their respect. At this point, it didn't seem possible. They all hated her, and she had to learn to accept it.

"Ryu, there's nothing I can do. They all can't stand me, and the only way I can earn their respect is if I figure out how to get up there." Whispered Hinata as she looked up at the wooden pole, she wanted to get the arrow… but those weights. They were something else, they prevented her from going up there… if she was stronger than maybe she could get up there, but that wasn't the case.

Now, Naruto was going to make them do a few tasks to test their strength and skills so to speak. She hoped that it was simple…

But then again… if it was simple it would be at… dare she say it? A woman's level…

Yeah, she said it… well, thought it…

Running a hand through her bangs, Hinata took a bite of her breakfast as she tried to think on what the tests could be this time… though, what she did know was that she had to be careful, or else it would cost her more than her honor…

Shaking her head, Hinata looked up and blinked when she saw Naruto… once more, he was wearing big and heavy looking robes… though, she couldn't help but notice something… for Hinata thought that she saw something moving behind him… Shaking her head once more, Hinata looked and saw that it was nothing…

Sighing softly, the young woman placed her cheek on her palm as she took a bite of her meal.

"Hinata, you know that you'll have to be careful. I think Naruto is suspicious of you." Calmly said Ryu before he grabbed a piece of her meal and plopped it into his mouth.

What did he mean that Naruto was suspicious of her? Did he have a hint or something that she was… a she? There was no way, Hinata made sure of that, she was really careful about her appearance, to make herself look more manly… But even that, it didn't look like it would be enough to hide her feminine features on her face.

That was the only thing that she couldn't hide…

Sighing softly, Hinata ran a hand through her blue bangs and kept on eating her meal… after all, after this there was only the training…

Sighing softly, Hinata took her spot near the end of the line. Far away from Sasuke and Shikamaru… there was no way that she was going to go near them. Not unless she can fight back. She would want to get through this style of training without almost getting killed again… Looking up, Hinata saw Naruto walking close to the cliff side, but why was he near the cliff? What was the training this time?

Naruto placed long and thing poles of wood down, and had a bag full of small palm sized stones… What was the training? Trying to make something outta sticks and stones? That doesn't make any kind of sense at all!

"For your training, I want you to try to stop these stones, with this pole. This will help you to stop any and all attacks no matter what size they are." Calmly said Naruto as if it was a simple task… maybe it was for him but for the others? It was hard to say to be honest.

"What the hell kind of training is that? We don't need to do this do we?" said a random solider.

Naruto narrowed his eyes… a sure sign that he was a little pissed off right about now. He walked over to the solider and grabbed him by the collar. "You think you can do better? Let's see you give it a try. Let's see if you can dodge all of the stones that are thrown at you." The man looked like he was about to wet himself… the look in Naruto's eyes were filled with anger, a hot and burning anger that would have burned holes through not just your body, but through your very soul.

Gulping, the man nodded and went to the station when Naruto had dropped him. He picked up the staff-like pole and stood right there by the cliff hoping that he wouldn't fall off. Just as everyone was about to throw a stone, Naruto held up his hand to stop them. "There is still one thing I hadn't mentioned before this man had so rudely interrupted me. You have to stop the stones with the staff yes, but while balancing this bucket filled with water on your head." After he had said that, Naruto grabbed the bucket that was just lying on the ground… Hinata didn't know how it had gotten there but… maybe she didn't want to know.

Naruto picked up the bucket and set it on the poor man's head.

Hinata sorta felt bad for the guy… he was gonna get hit by rocks… had to try to stop them and balance a bucket of water on his head… that just seemed a little wrong but, it was part of the training right? So… it had to be done… right?

Shaking her head, Hinata couldn't bring herself to throw stones at the poor man. Sure, in a way he kinda deserved it but… she just couldn't bring herself to do it. There was just no way that she could do that to anyone. Once the bucket fell over on his head, was when he was done… he was hit by every single stone and he was forced to sit down. Naruto sighed softly and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair…

"Alright, who wants to give it a try?"

Hinata felt something tickling her head… it was someone's hand. Narrowing her eyes, she lifted her hand to swat the owner of that hand… only to hear a voice…

"So Yuudai, you want to try next huh?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow… Crap… Hinata must have looked like she was volunteering to do this task, this was no what she wanted to do! Least not yet anyway, she wanted to get a better idea as of what to do… there was no way that she would be able to figure this out so quickly…

Gulping, Hinata took her stands and watched as Naruto placed the bucket on her head. "With you being a Hyuuga, you should have perfect balance." Damn it, another one that thought she had perfect- okay yeah she does… But not with this! Hinata knew that she's never done this before and there was no way that she would be able to do this at all.

Gulping, Naruto asked a few people to step forward to throw the stones. But what upset her the most was that it had Sasuke, Shikamaru and Sai… Sai, she didn't mind since he was nice… even if he was a bit blunt.

Sighing, Hinata tightly held onto the staff till her knuckles had turned white. This was her shot… this was her chance to prove herself… and hopefully, something that she can easily do! Right? After all, it was only day three…

Suddenly, the stones were sent flying at Hinata. Yelping, she swung the staff trying to block the stones. But no matter what she did, the staff was too thin, and the stones were coming at her too fast. Her movements were fast yes, but they were also very sloppy. She kept on hitting nothing but the air around her.

Ryu could only shake his head at her, thinking that this was getting harder and harder on Hinata. He had to do something. Just as he was about to walk over to help her, Hinata just narrowed her eyes, as if telling him help her, and she'll make his life miserable.

Ryu just gulped and backed away.

When the young woman turned back to the flying stones, she helped as one was aiming for her head. She ducked, only for the bucket to fly off of her head, twirl in the air and pouring the ice cold water on her head. Everyone just laughed at her…

Naruto shook his head and started to walk away. "Everyone, keep practicing, Konohamaru will look after you all and to make sure that you were doing as I instructed understand?"

She didn't know what could get worse… looking like a fool or failing this test and looking like a total klutz in Naruto's eyes. She didn't know, and had a feeling that she would surely fine out soon enough. But, this can't be that bad right? Right?

Groaning, Hinata wanted nothing more than to relax right now… trying to dodge those stones were much harder than it looked and sounded. That was for sure… Sighing softly, Hinata walked over to the field and stared at all the cement stones that were there… Though, next to them were pieces of wood… what did he expect them to do with those?

"Now, I want you to try to break these blocks of wood. Once you can break those, you can break the cement ones. Understand?"

Was he insane? There was no way that they'd be able to break these. Let alone put a dent in them. Shaking her head, Hinata knew that she wouldn't be able to break the wood planks, even with her style of training, it was just impossible.

The men started to set everything up for this task… it was as if they all had a death wish so to speak.

Shaking her head, Hinata started to set up her plank as well. Setting it atop of the cement blocks in order to have it up at the least… though, Hinata knew that she would never be able to break it. There was just no way that she would be able to break this wood, not with her training.

Sighing softly, Hinata turned her head and saw what everyone was doing. Some were trying to smash the wood with the sides of their hands… some were trying to smash it with their foot in a downward kick. And even some of them were trying to use their faces to break the wood…

_'They're just plain crazy…'_

"They're crazier than your ancestor…" grumbled Ryu with a shake of his head; Hinata just stared at him as she wondered what he was talking about. Her ancestor, he knew her ancestor? Suddenly, Ryu couldn't help but laugh. "Your ancestor was so crazy that he had to do something stupid just to get your other ancestor, to notice him. She never looked at him fearing that her feelings for him would grow stronger…

"Sadly, they had. When his idea of pranking the whole village didn't work, he tried to ask her out at her home, even got chased by her father while he held a sword. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, he didn't give up though. He kept on going back to ask her out again, and again, and again. But no matter what he did it didn't work. He almost gave up until one day… he saw her walking down the road, a cart was coming her way and she was almost hit by it." Laughing softly, Ryu looked up at the sky and scratched the back of his head as if embarrassed about something. "He called upon my power to give him the speed he'd need to save her. Of course, I did and he saved her from getting run over. Since then… they've been in love and always would."

"I've never heard that story… or about you in the first place…"

"Your father didn't want to admit that one of your ancestors was an idiot that had won a clan members heart by saving them." calmly said Ryu though he crossed his arms as he started to explain more "and as for me, I'm not a member of your clan's guardians, I am from your ancestor's guardians. He wanted me to stay with him to protect a descendent he thought would be worthy of my protection."

Hinata nodded, that made a little sense… No one heard of Ryu or even mentioned him because her ancestor only wanted him to protect someone worthy of his power… But, was she worthy of it? That didn't seem right, there was no way that she could use his power to get through this training… she just can't… Shaking her head Hinata walked over to the plank of wood to try to think of which way she could destroy it…

Smashing it with her face was out of the question… Maybe a kick would do for now… Taking a deep breath, Hinata walked a few feet back everyone staring at her, thinking that she was chickening out.

They were dead wrong…

Turning back, Hinata narrowed her lavender eyes at the plank and charged, started to flip forward until she had landed on her hands a second time and pushed herself in the air. Holding her arms out, the young woman spun forward like a cart wheel as her legs were also held out. Her left leg held up a little higher, just before she landed, the young woman smashed the heel of her foot against the plank…

Only to screamed in pain after falling over.

Everyone laughed at her, thinking that she can only put on a show rather than be a real warrior. Hinata held her leg close to her body, trying to stop the pain. But no matter what, it just wouldn't stop… the pain was throbbing through her ankle as if the bone had broken…

"Hey guys, I don't think he's kidding around about the pain… I think it's real." Said one of the warriors…

Sai ran over to Hinata and grabbed her ankle and put some pressure on it, which only resulted in Hinata to yelp in pain. Shaking his head, Sai lifted Hinata up and carried her off to the medical tent to get her ankle looked at… Least she wasn't going to be asked to strip down… that would be embarrassing…

But at least she got out of this training for now… hopefully, the rest of it goes smooth as silk…

Looking around, Hinata wondered where Naruto was now… he left a while ago… must have been while she was in deep thought… since she only saw Konohamaru… Looking up at Sai, the young woman wondered why he was nicer to her than his two friends… it didn't make any kind of sense to her at all. But, she also wanted to know if this guy knew anything about Naruto…

"Sai… do you know anything about Captain Uzumaki?"

"Of course I grew up with him."

That was a shock… Hinata didn't think that anyone would have known Naruto at all… Tilting her head to the side, the young woman calmly asked "why does he always seem so… moody?"

"I'm not sure. When we were seven, his father asked him to go with him for something important… after that, he wasn't the same. I think it's because he found out that he has a very small pi-"

"Stop! Just stop! I'm sorry I asked!"

Hinata covered her face, which was red as a tomato. There was no way that she wanted to hear what he was going to finish. That was just something she did NOT want to hear. She knew that if she heard anymore that she would be scarred for life… even if what Sai was saying wasn't all that much.

Maybe tomorrow would be better for her…

No… sadly it wasn't. Now, they had to run through a field… while being shot at with fire arrows. How the hell was she to do that?

Naruto on the other hand, just smiled. How can he smile? Was he able to do this all the time as if it was just a nice walk during the spring? That, she wasn't sure and had a feeling that she didn't want to know at all.

"When I say go, I want you all to start running. Don't stop; try to get through this field without getting hit by a single arrow." Said Naruto with a smirk…

Hinata gulped; yeah he really did think that they all could do this… But it didn't stop her from being afraid of being burned alive. Shaking her head, Hinata looked at everyone and saw that they were all trying to dodge past the flaming arrows… But it seemed that the arrows were just going to fast… was this only a sign to test ones speed?

Gulping, the young woman started to run through the field. Sure, she knew that it would be hard to do with her ankle still sore but there was no way that she was going to stop just because she couldn't do this one test… even if she had failed the other ones… Okay, having failed all of them. But she knew that this was had chance right? If not, then maybe the next test would be, there was only one way to say wasn't there?

Running through the field, Hinata kept on trying to dodge the arrows. Having to duck, having to jump, it was like trying to dodge one thing after another. No matter what though, there were many close calls and she knew that. Though, before she could get to the other side, Hinata tripped and felt an arrow hitting her arm. "Oh crap!" She shouted, only to scream out in pain and ran out faster than she should have.

Though, while Hinata was running, Naruto just narrowed his eyes on her…

Once Hinata was out of the range of fire, she had crawled over to the nearby river and tossed herself in. The pain slowly started to seep away from her skin. "The things I do for honor…" She mumbled to herself, sighing softly, Hinata just stayed in the water for now, least till either the pain disappeared or until she had to leave for the next test… either way, she was screwed, more so than ever before…

Hinata sighed… there was going to be a lot of this weight that she would have to carry. They were given poles of bamboo to carry over their shoulders that each had bags full of sand to add more weight. They had to walk along the mountain trail that ran around the camp for over an hour.

Hinata did NOT like this in the least.

Looking over at the other men, she couldn't help but notice that they were doing it with ease… but then again, she had not trained in strength… more along the ideal of reflexes… Shaking her head, Hinata kept on running, holding the pole over her shoulders as she tried to keep up. But it seemed that no matter what she did, her feet would either stumble or bucket from the sheer weight of it.

The blue haired woman guessed that she was carrying about fifty pounds over her shoulders right now… so that had to be twenty-five pounds in each bag. Shaking her head, Hinata knew that she would have to keep going. Nothing would stop her at the moment…

She knew that she had to keep going or risk looking like a fool.

Grunting in pain, Hinata kept on running, using more of her strength in her legs to run a little faster. Sasuke and Shikamaru just laughed at her since it seemed that she couldn't contain the weight over her shoulders. Sai, of course just gave her a smile and a small wave as he ran past her.

Great, Hinata was at the back of everyone… just what she needed.

Shaking her head, the young woman pumped more strength in her legs. Her eyes tightly shut as she kept pushing herself past her limits. Lifting her legs higher to gain more speed and more strength, and yet it was also causing more strain on her ankle from when she had hurt it with the plank…

"Come on… come on! Keep going!" she told herself, not wanting to give up yet. Not wanting to seem like a weak little girl that had to depend on others to do things for her. She wasn't that! She was someone that could depend on herself and only ask for help when she needed it… But, before she knew it, her legs buckled completely, her legs no longer able to hold this weight on her shoulders.

Yelping, Hinata fell over, her arms going outward past her head, still holding the pole. Whimpering, she tried to push herself up to her feet to keep going. But no matter what, she just couldn't… Her body felt numb with pain… though, most of this pain was in her legs, which prevented her from doing anything…

_'Come on… I can do this! I have to get up! It's the only way to get on everyone's good side!'_ thought the Hyuuga heiress… But sadly, her cries were not heard by her body…

A shadow loomed over her, which… Hinata feared for the worse… Looking up, she saw Naruto glaring down at her, his hand bending down to reach for her. Hinata thought that he was going to beat her or something for being such a failure… but, that wasn't the case. He grabbed the pole from her hands and started to walk away… a look of disappointment was clearly seen in his eyes…

Hinata looked down in shame, and slammed her fist into the ground…

Hinata didn't think that she could handle this anymore! The pain was just unbearable! Whimpering, the young woman sat down under a tree. Damn it, why couldn't she have amazing healing abilities like some of the other clans instead the power of amazing sight? Sighing softly, Hinata knew that there was no point in complaining…

It would just get her nowhere at this point.

Sighing softly, Hinata knew that this was all just part of the training to be a better warrior… after all; no one gets it on the first try… Yawning, the blue haired woman looked up at the sky… wondering what the test was this time… Naruto had told them all to go to the river for 'dinner'… Though, the way he said it made her wonder if it was a kind of hunting test?

Sighing softly, Hinata ran a hand through her bangs and pushed herself up to her feet before making her way to the water… Naruto of course, stood by the river… His robes were still dry, a sign that he hadn't gone into the river yet.

"Hey Captain Uzumaki…" said a solider as he glared at the blonde haired man. "Why don't you ever demonstrate any of these tests for us huh? You afraid to do them or is the Legendary Demon not able to perform these tasks?"

Naruto turned around and grabbed the man by his shirt. Narrowing his blue eyes, the blonde haired man had this strange feeling surrounding him… it almost felt like killer intent… It gave everyone a chill that went down their spines. Though, as Hinata stared at him she couldn't help but notice something…

Did his eyes flash red?

Shaking her head, Hinata looked back at him, noticing that Naruto's eyes were still their sky blue colouring… but what confused her the most, was why did she see red instead of blue? Was it the lighting or was it the feeling of darkness that surrounded him? It didn't make sense to her, but she had a feeling that he would really kill this man for saying that to his face. It made Hinata fear for the poor man's safety.

Rushing to the two men, Hinata tugged at Naruto's wrist and the poor frightened man as she said "Captain Uzumaki, this isn't the way to deal with this!" When Naruto turned to stare at her, she thought his eyes were red again… but when she blinked they were still blue… what was going on? Why did she keep seeing red? Damn it…

Growling for a moment, Naruto dropped him and started to walk away. "If you want your dinner, catch a fish in this river. Don't use anything, but your hands." With that, Naruto started to walk away. Once again, Konohamaru stayed to keep an eye on them, to test their skills in this… Was this to test their reflex?

Shaking her head, Hinata rolled up her pant legs, and her sleeves before walking in the water… she looked down, feeling the stones under her feet… feeling just how chilly the water was… It was nice… It felt a little good though she knew that now wasn't the time to think on how relaxing the cold water was right now. Taking a deep breath, Hinata made her way to the center of the river and looked down just in time to see some fish.

They swam by her feet, nipping at her toes as if she was the food instead of the other way around.

Taking a deep breath, this should be easy enough for her… She had amazing reflexes… after all, that was part of her training for the Hyuuga Clan. Snapping open her eyes, the young woman threw her hand into the water and had her fingers wrapped around the tail of the fish… only for it to slip away.

_'They're more slippery than I thought…'_ thought Hinata with a frown, though that didn't stop her. She kept on going… as for Ryu, he just shook his head, and he would tell her not to just grab the fish by its tail, but by its belly so she would have a firmer hold on it. But sadly, there was no way that Hinata would accept his help and he knew that. So, he just settled on watching her make a fool of herself.

Hours after hours passed… the sun was setting and of course, Hinata was the only one that hadn't caught a fish. So, she had gone without dinner. Sighing softly, she started to walk on to her tent. "Hinata… you should have grabbed them by their belly…"

"Now you tell me?"

"You didn't want my help in the training remember?"

"Right…"

Sighing softly, Hinata rubbed her arms as she walked toward the camp grounds. At least she would be able to sleep… even if it was on an empty stomach. But at least she would be able to relax her sore and aching muscles.

"Yuudai." Calmly said a new voice, which had drawn Hinata's attention, only to gasp when she saw Naruto holding the reins to her horse… What was going on?

"What's the matter Captain Uzumaki?" asked Hinata, almost afraid of what he would say to her… why did she sense that he was not pleased with her in the tests? It didn't make sense! She thought that she was doing well in the tests that she had been given.

"Yuudai, you are to go home to your family. You are not suited for war."

"But… I can't go back! I have to stay here!"

"You are to go home and that is an order! Believe it; you are just not suited for war. Bring your father instead; he at least knows the rage of war. Unlike you."

His words stung her deeply… why did he have to say it like that? Sure, guys don't get upset over this but that was it… she wasn't a guy; she was a woman that entered this not just for honor but to protect her father. When Hinata looked up to say something, Naruto lifted her hand and placed the reins in her hands and narrowed his eyes at her. "Go home Yuudai, and do not come back understand?" After that, he started to walk away…

Hinata sighed softly, looking at the horse; she wondered why it hurt so much to hear those words? Was she just being over sensitive? Or was it something else something more, much more? That, she couldn't be sure of, not at this point… looking up at her horse Usagi, she couldn't help but sigh…

As Hinata started to walk away, she couldn't help but wonder what she had done wrong to have been kicked out so easily… was it because she had failed more than she should have? Or was it something else? Did Naruto just not like her? Or was she really not made for the rages of war? Shaking her head, Hinata knew that she had to prove herself worthy… but how?

Looking up, Hinata remembered something… the big pole with the arrow…

This could be her chance… if she could figure this out than maybe… just maybe she can get herself back in! Smiling, Hinata looked off to the side and saw the weights that Naruto had given out to everyone, saying that they could try again if they so wanted too.

Narrowing her eyes in determination, she walked over to the weights and tied them around her wrists as she tried to get up the pole…

Taking a deep breath, Hinata kept trying to climb up the pole, but each attempt caused her to fall over and hit the ground. Narrowing her eyes more, Hinata sat on the ground for a moment… trying to think of another solution… maybe, she was only seeing this the wrong way? Maybe, the weights had another purpose only not to weigh them down but something else….

Looking at them, Hinata noticed that the weights could… that's it!

Tightly holding the bands around the huge weights, she threw them around the pole, which had caused them to tie them together, which would be enough for her climb up. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata placed her feet on the pole and started to climb up.

Hinata would tightly press her feet into the pole, and threw the weights up a little higher to allow herself to climb up all the higher. As she had done that, Hinata had failed to notice that everyone was coming out of their tents to see what the commotion was about. And they were all shocked to see what they were seeing.

Hinata kept on climbing up, using all of her strength to do so… Her feet slipped a few times, though that didn't stop her. She knew that this was her chance! And she was going to take it no matter what the cost! Narrowing her eyes, Hinata tightened her eyes as she increased the presser to pull herself up more all the more.

Finally… Hinata did it… she arrived to the top, ripped out the arrow from the wood and threw it downward just as Naruto came out of his tent, the arrow landing right by his feet. Hinata smiled down at everyone and waved at them… everyone, cheered out "Yuudai" over and over again…

It seemed that everything was gonna get better after all.


	7. Secret

_I didn't expect to pass that test… but what I did know was that they all had accepted me at last… I didn't feel like an outsider anymore. But, the only thing that bothered me was how Naruto acted now… it seemed like he hid himself even more… though, I just figured that maybe, there was something else to him acting so strange…_

_But, what I hadn't expected was… to find out his secret… the secret of Naruto Uzumaki…_

Hinata hadn't expected to get their respect so easily… sure, she wasn't able to do that test before and now… it was as if she was a new person… but sadly, they only respected Yuudai Hyuuga, not Hinata Hyuuga…

It was as if her life was a shame about everything… she was a woman living in the world of man and yet… she wanted women everywhere to be treated the same, with respect and everything… but sadly, it doesn't seem like that would happen any time soon… Sighing softly, the young woman ran a hand through her hair as she started to head toward the lake for a nice relaxing bath…

She could still remember the training from earlier…

_Hinata and the others were standing in the open field… today, they were all going to learn some combat training since, they were all starting to pass the tests that they all had failed earlier… Hinata couldn't help but feel a little proud of passing those tests._

_Looking over at Naruto, she saw that once again he was wearing robes once more to hide his body… but why?_

_That was something she just couldn't understand at all… why would he hide his body all the time? What did he have to hide that he would have to wear robes? Shaking her head, Hinata looked up at everyone; she saw that they were all excited to do this test…_

_Frowning, Hinata wondered how they were going to do different styles of fighting movements… since Naruto's style of fighting was strange, yet different at the same time…_

_"Alright everyone, today… we are to learn hand to hand combat. Yuudai, you will be paired up with me." Calmly said Naruto, his voice calm though she sensed that he was worried about fighting someone… but why that was, she wasn't sure as of yet. Sighing softly, Hinata knew that she would have to fight hard if she was going to stay in this army camp and fight in the war with everyone… it was the only way to regain the honor of the Hyuuga Clan._

_Taking a deep breath, Hinata held out her left hand, palm out, and had her right hand close to her chest, palm outward as well… her legs spread preparing herself for a battle of a life time._

_If there was one thing that she knew about fighting style, is that she was a master of her family's fighting style… Narrowing her eyes into slits, Hinata watched as Naruto charged at her, his speed was incredible, that was for sure… though there was one thing that made this a little easy, she could still make out some of his movements…_

_Hinata threw her right palm at Naruto while drawing in her left slamming her right hand into his chest which had threw him back a bit… She saw that Naruto's feet dug into the ground to prevent him from falling onto his back. He smirked at her before charging again… Which had caused her to think if he was really going to try this again… was he trying it again or was he giving something else a try? That, she couldn't really be sure of as of yet…_

_When she threw out her left hand to stop him, he jumped over Hinata and slammed his foot into her back. Hinata was surprised to say the least… Taking a deep breath as she went flying through the air, the young woman twirled in the air and landed on the balls of her feet and the fingertips of her right hand with her left held out behind her._

_"Not bad Yuudai… you do have amazing skill for belonging to an old ninja clan." Calmly said Naruto, though a look of pride was on his face… was Naruto proud that she was doing well in the battle when it had only started? Oh… it makes sense from what she's seen before that he fought like a demon to the point of being accused of being one? It would make a little bit of sense at least…_

_"Thank you Captain Uzumaki…" Hinata said in a whisper before charging… they threw their fists at each other, Hinata would get a few blows to her body, though mostly to her stomach, arms or a few kicks to her legs… (For that, she was thankful…) And as for her, she managed to get a few hits on Naruto but not enough to for him fall over on his back… That was what she was going for right about now._

_Though, it was harder to do than it sounded…_

_Naruto clenched his hands into fists, flexing his fingers as if he was in pain… was he? No, that can't be right... Shaking her head, Hinata charged, her palms held outward as she prepared herself for an attack… if there was one thing she knew, it was how to do a fake out. As soon as he was near, Hinata twirled her body around to avoid Naruto's attack and swung her leg and hit his back with the heel of her foot._

_Naruto yelped in surprised though landed on his hands and flipped over onto his back. Narrowing his eyes he ran off which had confused Hinata… "Captain are you running away?" said Hinata as she prepared for another attack. Though, what she hadn't expected was for him to come up behind her and pin her to the ground…_

_"You did very well Yuudai… but sadly, you cannot beat me no matter how hard you try…"_

_Hinata sighed, she hadn't expected him to have just suddenly appeared like that… though, and it seemed to have made him even more amazing of a warrior… though sadly, Hinata had lost… did that mean that she would have to leave this place?_

_Naruto pushed himself off of Hinata and pulled her up. He had a small smile as he said "you lasted much longer than others. Normally, I beat them in two seconds. But you've lasted quite a bit Yuudai, you've done well." With those words, Hinata nodded though was also fighting hard to stop a blush to appear on her face. After that, she watched as Naruto started to walk away…_

_Frowning, Hinata just stared as Naruto walked away… everyone else was shocked that Hinata was barley hurt at all from the battle… _

_Sai walked up to Hinata and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Yuudai; you have done very well for a feminine man."_

_Hinata just gave him a bland look as she said "jee, thanks…"_

_Sai just chuckled before walking away… sometimes, Hinata wondered just how his mind worked half the time, since it seemed like he didn't know crap about a lot of things… And that he was just a little too open with his words._

Hinata smiled at the memory, Naruto was an amazing man that was for sure… though, sadly she couldn't say that out loud or it would make it look weird… With her pretending to be a man, it made it all the harder for her to be open with her feelings… Running a hand through her hair, the young woman removed her clothes, set them in a pile protected by Usagi and of course, Ryu before she walked into the water…

"This is freezing!" She yelped to herself, though she knew that she had to keep going or she'd never get the sweat off of her skin and hair.

"You know Hinata, you're going to get caught." Calmly said Ryu with a sigh as he sat on Usagi's back… wanting to stay far away from the water since it would look weird for ripples of water to go around him when he can't appear before them…

"Oh stop it Ryu… I don't need to smell like a man too… I only need to look the part, not smell it. 'Sides, no one is around they're all asleep at this time of night. So, might as well take the chance and have a nice… cold bath." Hinata calmly said as she took her hair out of its ponytail and sank in the water to get all the dirt and grime out of the blue strands.

The young woman couldn't help but smile; this was the life for sure… bathing under the moon's rays… the starry sky above her like a blanket of beautiful silk… the way they sparkled reminded her of the other test they had today…

_Everyone was once again, in an open field, though the only thing different about this one, was that far away was a dummy of what Hinata assumed to be the enemy. Frowning in confusion she wondered what this test would be about, though she had an idea since behind them was a huge pile of explosives… she guess were similar to fire crackers though for war. If she remembered right from what she had heard from stories that her father had told her, was that they were used to try to get a hit on your opponent in case they are just too far away for an arrow._

_"Alright everyone, this training will test your target making skills with these fire crackers. What I need you to do is angle them to the point where you're sure that they would hit that dummy over there. If you can do that, well… than you have passed and have become true warriors for you have passed every test so far." Calmly said Naruto as he walked in front of the line of men… it made Hinata nervous but she was happy to be here… that she was going to do something great with her life…_

_"Captain Uzumaki, will we be really using this stuff in the war?" asked Sasuke with a raised eyebrow._

_"Yes, the enemy aren't expecting us to go and fight with the main army. You should know that more than anyone Sasuke since if I remember right, your brother is in the war too correct?" calmly said Naruto with a calm yet cold stare._

_Sasuke sighed but kept quite… it made Hinata wonder why Sasuke seemed sad about Naruto mentioning his brother… it didn't make sense unless the two of them don't get along._

_"Now, get to work… Konohamaru, you make sure they don't run off or do anything stupid." Said Naruto before walking away for a moment…_

_Hinata couldn't understand why he always left but least he could have someone here to watch their progress… Sighing softly, Hinata walked over to the pile of explosives and grabbed a fire cracker… smiling, she went back to her place and looked up before grabbing two sticks of bamboo and tied them together to make an X before setting the fire cracker in the space between the bamboo sticks._

_Frowning, she closed one eye and placed her face near it as she tried to angle it just right. Turning it to the left a little, Hinata looked like it was in line… though; it just needed to get a little higher first… Smiling, she pulled the back a little closer to the ground so the nose was up a little higher…_

_Smiling Hinata grabbed a few spark rocks and clicked them together and watched as the sparks hit the little string at the end of the fire cracker and watched it as it went flying… Hinata watched as it went flying through the air, wondering if it would hit… she hoped that it would…_

_'Please hit… please hit…' she thought to herself, hoping that it would hit at the least…_

_Finally, the moment of truth was among her… The fire cracker was starting to fall downward… the sound of a whistle was echoing through the sky as it descended down and finally… it hit the earth… but not just that, but it hit the target._

_"Good job Yuudai." Calmly said Naruto as he walked up behind her, which had made her jump and look up at Naruto's calm but beautiful blue eyes… No matter what, she just couldn't stop herself from looking at those blue orbs of his… though, what she did know, was that she had to stop or risk looking like an idiot…_

_Gulping, Hinata pushed herself up to her feet as she said "thank you Captain Uzumaki…"_

_He just smiled at her, patting her shoulder for a moment before leaving to check on everyone else's progress… sometimes, she wondered why he acted so calm one moment, only to look so happy the next… Naruto didn't make sense to her at all, but she knew… that it would have to be one of the many secrets of Naruto Uzumaki that made him interesting…_

Hinata sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair before tying it back up into a high ponytail. Blinking, the young woman looked to shore and saw someone coming into the water. Gasping in shock, the young woman hid behind a rock not sure how she was going to go and hide…

"It feels nice to clean up…" said a voice, which… sounded like… Naruto's?

Blinking in confusion, Hinata grabbed a huge lily pad and wrapped it around herself like a towel hoping that she could hide herself. When she took a step away from the rock, Hinata heard Naruto's sharp voice as he said "who's there!"

Gulping, the young woman moved away from the rock and moved out into Naruto's view… though, she had herself in the water a bit to hide herself from him… Naruto just stared at her with narrowed eyes… why was he… wait, what's that on his body?

When the moon's rays shined down on Naruto, she could make out strange markings on his body… they looked like… tails? Tails circling around from his waist, wrapping themselves around from his back, and around his back till it ended a little over his shoulders… but that wasn't the only thing she noticed… under a few locks of his hair, she noticed them… his ears… his ears weren't normal but the ears of a fox…

"Naruto… what…?"

Naruto growled as he tried to back away… "You're just going to tell everyone aren't you? You're just going to call me a monster too eh? Go ahead, I'm used to it." He growled out when he stared at her, his eyes red as blood…

Hinata just shook her head as she said "why would I call you a monster? And, I don't know why you were hiding those…" She gestured to the markings on his chest and the fox ears… though, when she looked at his waist, she noticed the few tails that were floating up to the top of the water. "What are you?" asked Hinata softly; not really understanding what he was…

"I told you, I'm a monster… I'm a freak because I was fused with a fox demon." He growled out, slowly moving away from Hinata… and turning away once more. "No one would accept me if they knew the truth… the only one that didn't look at me like… I was a freak was a girl…"

A girl, was he talking about her? She was a girl after all, even if she was pretending to be a man for the time being… Frowning, Hinata walked over to him as she said "Naruto… you're not a monster though it does explain why your hiding your body with those big robes of yours." Hinata thought that she saw him smile a bit, though it wasn't a big smile but… least he was smiling at the least…

"Yuudai… try living in my shoes. No one would care about me if they knew the truth… I should just get rid of you just to make sure you don't… But damn it, you remind me of that girl."

"What girl?"

"She's a Hyuuga like you… she looks… just like you…" Naruto ran a clawed hand through his hair as he turned and stared at Hinata… as if he was trying to figure something out… "She is the most beautifulness girl I've ever seen and… and yet, she is the heiress of the Hyuuga family… I know… because of the kimono she wore when I met her."

Hinata felt like her face would melt right off her skull right about now. Taking a deep breath, she whispered "do you mean… Hinata?"

Naruto blinked and tilted his head to the side… but he nodded since everyone knew that the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan was Hinata. But, what did Naruto feel for her? Was it something attuned to shock since she didn't run away from him when she saw the fight…? "What do you mean though Naruto?"

"You might find it stupid but… I don't know, maybe I feel something for that girl… I just don't know what it is…" He gave a dry laugh as he added "It doesn't matter now… it would never be anything anyway… though, if I was normal… a normal man than maybe, I would have a shot." Naruto chuckled and stared at Yuudai with a sad smile before turning away…

"Maybe, you should just ask her…" Hinata said with a blush before turning away from him and leaning into the rock…

Naruto sighed as he said "I don't think so… You wouldn't know what it feels to be me Yuudai; you were born and lived your life as a normal person, I… I hadn't been normal for years. Be happy for that… but I know, for a fact she would never accept me… No one accepts a demon." With that, Naruto turned around and got out of the water, Hinata looked over and could make out the markings on his back… along with the tails…

"Such nice tails…" she whispered to herself, but it made her realise… Naruto felt as alone as she did… he was living a lie because he was afraid of being rejected to the point of not trusting anyone… and yet, he somehow had placed his trust in her, to not tell a soul about what she had just witnessed…

If he trusted her with his secret than… could she trust him with hers? No, she couldn't for if anyone knew this secret, she'll be killed…


	8. Guilt

_Naruto had trusted me with his biggest secret… he was a man that had been fused with a demon… why that was, I wasn't sure yet… but I had a feeling that it was for the greater good… since, Sai had told me, that Naruto had started to act different when he was a kid…_

_This was all so confusing, that was for sure… the more I thought about it, the more I think that I still really don't know him as well as I think I do…_

_But, what I do know… is that he trusted me with a secret that he hadn't trusted anyone else with… that meant something… it… it had too. And when he had told me that secret, I remember how fast my heart had beat in my chest… did that mean that… I was in love with Naruto Uzumaki?_

Hinata knew that all the training was complete, and now… they were going to meet up with Commander Namikaze… from what she had been told is Naruto's father… Why they had different last names she'll never know… Sighing softly, the young woman held the reigns of her horse Usagi who carried the waggon of the fire crackers they were to use in the army. Hinata didn't know why, but the thought of Naruto's secret confused her…

He easily trusted her with his secret…

And yet, Hinata knew that she was still hiding her own secret not just from him… but from the whole army. And she knew that it was too late to say anything. Knowing fully well, that if she was to say anything about her being a woman, would do more harm than just having her life taken… it would be possible for honor to return to her family… and there would be no honor for this army.

But was honor so important?

After everything she had seen… had witnessed, there was no point in honor if it would only make people do stupid things… unless, you were protecting someone dear to you… that, was a true show of honor… not all of these stupid things such as war and taking people's lives. It wasn't right, and Hinata knew that.

Would she be able to take a life?

Shaking her head, the young woman kept on walking with everyone… she had to keep going with everyone till the end… wither its them finding out who she really is… to them winning this war.

"Hey Yuudai!" shouted a well-known voice to Hinata, which made her sigh… what could Sasuke want? Turning around, she saw that Sasuke was just wearing a simple piece of armour which was a mixture of blue and black… he gave her a nod as he said "hey, what do you think will happen after the war is done? Think we'd get a lot of ladies?"

He was asking her about men? Oh brother…

"Sasuke, why do you think about women… they're so troublesome…" said Shikamaru as he caught up, he of course was wearing a piece of armour that looked more like a vest… His pants were long enough, (like Sasuke's) to reach and hug around his ankles… it made her wonder how men could wear that armour… she didn't have to thank god for that since she wouldn't have been able to move like she was used too…

"But… women are what lets men have children… are they not?" said Sai as he caught up to them… of course, he was just wearing a shirt that covered his chest, leaving his stomach bare for the world to see… did some men prefer armour and some didn't? Was this all about a choice? Hinata didn't know and had a feeling that she didn't want to know… To complete his outfit was a black pant that like everyone else's hugged around his ankles.

Hinata didn't know how to speak to these three… since the two of them had tried to drown her and beat the living day lights outta her before… These guys were pretty much impossible to speak too.

Sasuke just smirked as he asked "so, Yuudai… you know of any women that would match my fancy?"

"That depends what kind of woman you like." Calmly said Hinata as she rolled her head to her shoulders hoping to relieve some of the tension that had built up in there, she highly doubted that there was a woman on earth that would put up with him since it looked like he had some issues…

"I want a girl that would have long hair… eyes that would shine much like a crystal… and of course, I want her to worship me."

Hinata just gave him a bland stare, there was no way there was a girl like that in this world… who the hell would worship this guy? It just didn't make sense to Hinata so; all she did was shake her head. Calmly said "sorry Sasuke, but I don't know anyone like that…" which, sadly was true, there wasn't a girl (that she knew of) that would be like the one Sasuke would want…

"Fine… what about you Shikamaru?" asked Sasuke as he stared at the spiky ponytailed man who looked like he was going to fall asleep as he walked.

"If I had to choose… I'd want one that's smart."

"That's it?" asked Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." was all Shikamaru said before letting out a loud yawn and rubbing his eyes. Hinata wondered why he didn't have many choices in women, unless he thought they were all 'troublesome' and only wanted a smart one to tell when they were bothering him. That was the only thing that would make sense to Hinata…

"What about you Sai?" asked Hinata, wondering what kind of woman he would like…

"A woman… with a ponytail and that likes art… and has nice blue eyes."

Just like Shikamaru, it's mostly about the art though with Sai… a ponytail which would resemble a paintbrush, someone that likes art and of course blue eyes would bring out a pale complexion like any kind of blue paint would…

Though, at least they had their own preference in women that wouldn't cause any kind of conflict… there was enough of that in the world as it is… Sighing softly, Hinata looked up at the sky, wondering what was to happen now… she was stuck in the war, she had gone too deep and knew that there was no way out. Yawning, the young woman looked over at Usagi only to blink when she saw Ryu sitting atop of the horses back.

"Relax Hinata, they can't see me remember… they would have to either believe or, they'd have to be connected to a spirit themselves." Said Ryu with a grin, which didn't help reassure Hinata in the least… in fact, it, did the opposite…

"So Yuudai… what do you see in a woman?" asked Sai, giving her his calm yet bright smile which made Hinata sigh… he was such like a kid that it was cute. Though, she couldn't tell them that she was already interested in someone… let alone pretend that she was into girls… she also, couldn't damn well tell them that she was into men or they'd tell Naruto! Either way, she was screwed.

"I like kindness… compassion… blonde hair and blue eyes…"

"Really?"

"Yeah why?"

"That… I don't know just sounds weird… you almost described Captain Uzumaki…" said Sai with confusion.

Hinata cursed in her head, she didn't think that they'd be that observant. "I didn't notice… but there are other people out there, it isn't just based off of one person." Calmly said Hinata, hoping that they didn't catch on that she was really a woman, or think that she was a man that liked… men… that was the last thing that she needed right about now… that, and them finding out that she was a woman.

"Ah, to each their own." calmly said Sai before moving on ahead.

Hinata didn't think that she would have gotten away with it… but she was thankful that they didn't suspect anything. That was a plus, for sure. Sighing softly, the young woman kept on walking with her horse in tow, and of course Ryu atop of her back.

"Ryu… I have a question… were you always a spirit or… no?"

"No… I was human once." Said Ryu as if it was an everyday subject… wait what did he mean that he was human once? Did he do something wrong that turned him into a spirit or did he sell something or take something that he shouldn't have? It made Hinata wonder; just what did he do to have turned himself into a spirit?

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata in confusion.

"I was a normal human man a long time ago… I was a commander for one of the armies that were to invade another country… though; I wanted to make sure that my men stayed safe so they had someone to return too…" Ryu calmly said, looking up at the sky as if he was seeing the whole event before his eyes once more. It made Hinata wonder… what had happened after that…

"I made a deal… I told the spirits I would gladly sell my soul to make sure that no one died in the war…" He gave a dry laugh and sighed… "None of my men made it… the spirits told me, I can be reborn again, if I've made up for my mistakes in the past and so far, I haven't. Until then, I wonder the earth, and I became the family guardian for your ancestor… and now, I am your guardian…"

Hinata felt sorry for him… he must have had a love that had been waiting for him… only to hear that he was gone and never to return… it had to be hard on Ryu, that was for sure… though, Hinata hoped that after this, he would be able to be human again… he deserved that much. Looking ahead of her, Hinata saw Naruto sitting on a horse; riding ahead of them… was leading everyone to the main camp where his father resided…

She couldn't help but wonder… what life would be like if she had told him her secret…

Would he accept her?

Would he love her?

Or, would he reject her?

Those were the things that Hinata had wondering around in her mind. But worried, mostly about the last one, _'Why should I worry though? Naruto… he said that he loved me… even if he didn't know that it was me he said it too… Ohhh this is so confusing!' _thought Hinata with a sigh. It seemed that no matter what happened, that she just couldn't stop thinking that he was going to reject her… it just kept replaying in her mind over and over again…

The worst case, is that if he was to find out about her being a man, was that he would kill her as the law states. No woman is to enter the imperial army as a man, for they will be killed on sight.

The best case is that Naruto would love her and they'd live happily ever after!

Though, those were only what she had thought… there was no way that Hinata would be able to tell Hinata after this… she just couldn't… after this, it would be best that she just disappeared… and returned to being Hinata Hyuuga instead of Yuudai Hyuuga… there just wasn't a point in pretending like this all her life. And… if fate was merciful on her, than her and Naruto would meet again sometime in the future… right?

When she looked around, Hinata wondered what was to happen when they met up with Naruto's father… it made Hinata wonder if he was a nice man… _'Would he like me if me and Naruto were to be in love and were to be married?' _thought Hinata, which only made her blush and hide her face. She had to stop thinking like a girl right now, and focus! She had to act like a man right now till this war was over and done with… though, it only made it harder for Hinata to think like that.

"Come on men, we're almost there!" shouted Naruto over the sounds of the waggons, the horse's clip-clopping, and of course over the sounds of men groaning and moaning… Hinata was surprised that she hadn't noticed that before… she must have been in some pretty deep thought.

Though, it also made her smile that they would arrive soon… not a lot was really going on while they walked, only that the men would be happy when they could stop and meet up with the Commander. Though, Hinata just hoped that nothing had happened while they were here… Sighing softly, Hinata looked up and blinked when she saw Ryu's face… his face was serious… as if he could sense something terrible had happened…

"There was a battle near…" said Ryu with a hint of a growl…

"What do you mean…?" asked Hinata, not sure why there would have been a war here, she didn't sense anything… though, that might have been because unlike Ryu, she wasn't a spirit, and wasn't in tuned with nature… But, what could have happened to have made a war… unless… "Captain Uzumaki, I think we should all hurry to the camp…"

"What makes you say that Yuudai?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. Hinata stared at him with wide, pleading eyes, hoping that he would listen to her… as they stared at each other, Hinata could sense that Naruto was not just staring at her eyes, but it felt like… he was looking into her soul… sensing if what she was saying was the truth… looking into her soul for secrets that she hadn't told anyone before…

It was like he was reading a book… and her soul was the story…

"Alright… men, let's get a move on!" shouted Naruto as he rode on ahead, Hinata smiled and jumped on Usagi's back and rode off with Naruto, though she was also being careful not to make the waggon tip over. That was the last thing that they needed right about now. Taking a deep breath, Hinata hoped that nothing had happened… looking over her shoulder a bit, she saw that Ryu looked a little tense…

Was he able to sense where a war had taken place because of who he was before becoming a dragon spirit? Or was it something else altogether? That, she couldn't really say, but hoped that it was something else… Taking a deep breath, Hinata kept on riding forward; everyone else had hopped up onto their own horses and rode off as fast as they could.

Looking up, Hinata could faintly make out Naruto's tails… they were… so beautiful to her… it made her want to touch the furry tail though, she just hoped that no one else noticed them… knowing that Naruto would be angry if anyone else found out about his secret. Riding a little faster, she rode up to Naruto whispering "you should sit down Naruto… you're tails are showing…"

Naruto blushed and sat down as he rode, hating that he stood sometimes to go a little faster. Though, his blush made Hinata smile… it made him look a little cute, well more handsome… When they both looked up, Hinata felt like her skin had gone pale… her blood froze in her veins…

For, ahead of them was a destroyed village.

Everyone rode on through, wondering what had happened… why was this happening in the first place… who would attack a village that had nothing to do with the war?

"It doesn't matter if a village is in the war or not… so long as they have spoils for someone to steal, they will be involved, and their lives taken…" calmly said Ryu, his voice may have sounded calm though… Hinata could sense the pain in his words…

"My father… he was supposed to be here… but where…?"

"Captain Uzumaki! This way!" someone shouted, causing Naruto to jump off of his horse and ran toward the hill that was near the village… well, the slope… When he looked down, he saw that remains of armours… horses… flags… He couldn't believe what he was seeing… neither could Hinata… she had walked over to Naruto to help him… But what she had seen was enough to make her sick to her stomach.

This was much more than she had hoped to see in a war… this… this was just plain cruel!

"Where…" Naruto whispered, unable to finish his sentence… Though, when she looked around the battle field, she blinked when she saw a flash of blonde in the remains of the battle. Rushing forward, the young woman ran, being careful not to trip over anything or anyone… (Ugh) Shaking her head, the young woman kept on running, thinking that she saw the blonde streak moving a bit, that had to be a good sign…

When she arrived, Hinata moved aside the armour that covered the blonde, which she now sees was hair… When she moved the helmet, she saw someone that looked almost like Naruto… blonde hair, same facial structure… but was he breathing? Placing a pad of her index finger at the base of his neck, she felt around for a pulse…

_Thump… Thump… Thump…_

"Here! There's a survivor!" shouted Hinata, waving over for everyone to come on over… Naruto rushed forward to her side, she wondered if his sense of smell had been overcome by the scent of death… the scent of dried up blood… either way, she just hoped that Naruto was also alright. Staring at Naruto, she saw the face of a Captain, not the face of someone that would have been concerned for someone…

Was that the face he wears to hide his true self? Or something else? That, she couldn't be sure of as of yet… but hoped, that it was the latter…

When Naruto had arrived, he stared at the man in shock as he said "father! Men! Get the commander some help NOW!"


	9. Discovered

_When we found Naruto's father, we didn't think he should have been alive though… no one was complaining. We were all glad that the commander was still alive and well… Right now, he had to heal though I felt bad for Naruto since he spoke to his father while he slept. Was it to help him or was it just to get a few things off his chest?_

_That, I can't really say but what I can say, is that we still have a war to win…_

_And I was going to help stop this war so I could go home and be with my family… and hopefully have changed the lives for every woman to have an equal right._

Hinata and the others had been forced to set up camp for the night, knowing that right now Naruto couldn't focus on anything right now but his father. It made her wonder why that was… sure, anyone would be worried about their father but… he seemed to have taken it to a new level… he didn't trust anyone to be alone with his father, even the doctors.

Hinata sighed… Konohamaru had asked her to bring in some food for Naruto and his father, maybe it would be a good chance for her to get along with the blonde haired man. The thought of being with Naruto made her heart pound in her chest… Giggling, only to yelp and quickly turn around to make sure that no one else was around to have heard her girlish laughter.

Thank god, no one was around to have heard that, least no one that she could see. Looking to her left, she saw Ryu as she asked "is anyone around?" Her voice, a soft whisper so no one would think that she was talking to herself, though as she stared at her guardian, she wondered how he would ever make things right from his past… it made things a little unfair… Ryu just shook his head and smiled at Hinata and watched as she walked toward the big orange tent.

Gulping, Hinata knew that she would have to get over this, that she would have to go into the tent at some point… right now; she had to make sure that Naruto was eating as was his father…

Moving the flap of the tents door, she walked in… sitting by the bed was Naruto, staring at his father with a sad look… when she looked over to the sleeping man, she could easily see that he was worn out and needed rest… it was a good thing that they had a doctor with them but it made her wonder what had caused this, was it a surprise attack or just random?

"Captain Uzumaki… I brought you and your father some food…" said Hinata, trying to make her voice sound a little manlier though felt like she had failed at it.

"Thanks…" whispered Naruto with a soft yet sad sigh. He looked up at Hinata and gave her a soft smile before staring back at his father. Hinata frowned and set the two trays down, wondering if he would want her to stay or to leave… Sighing softly, the young woman pushed herself up and was starting to leave until… Naruto's voice made her stop as he said "Yuudai, please stay here… I need to get some air."

Frowning in confusion, Hinata just nodded and took Naruto's seat while he stepped out for some air… she guessed that the depressed aura that surrounded this place had taken its toll on him… not that she could blame him. Hinata sat in the room for what felt like hours, when really, it had only been minutes… had it really only been that long or… was it all just in her head? "You're… a Hyuuga correct?" whispered a tired voice which had caused Hinata to look down in shock at the sight of two blue eyes looking at her with a soft smile on his face.

Nodding, Hinata calmly said "yes… I… I'm Yuudai Hyuuga; I was the one that found you in the rubble…"

He just chuckled weakly as he said "I know the Hyuuga's very well… I know that your name isn't Yuudai… Hiashi never had a son. The only known boy in the Hyuuga family is Neji." Hearing that, Hinata's eyes were wide… he knows? That… no! She can't allow this to happen! There is no way that she was going to let anyone know about her secret… but, what he said next had surprised her. "I'm not going to tell anyone. You had to have had your reasons. Am I right?"

Nodding, Hinata whispered "my father would have died on the first day with his leg the way it was. I did this to save him. Wouldn't any child do that for their father?"

"For them to risk everything, only a child that really loved their father could do that. You have to love him very much."

"He's my father… he's the only one I'll ever have."

Smiling, Minato whispered "I bet… I would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes young one." Hinata looked at the blonde haired man and wondered why he was being so nice to her… doesn't he know the rules of her being in the army in the first place? She should be killed right now and her family would be forever dishonoured… why is he being so kind to her?

"Why… why aren't you angry with me for being here?" asked the young woman, trying hard to remain calm right about now though… she had a feeling that he wasn't trying to harsh to her at all… as if he was really more understanding than most people should be… but why? None of this was making any sense to her at all…

Minato just smiled at her as he said "you aren't following the rules… you are following your heart which is a rare gift that very few people have these days." Hinata just stared at him in shock and confusion; she was… following her heart? That would explain a few things like why she wasn't like other women her age… or like anyone for that matter. So many people were by the rules of law while she listened to the voice that was within her… her heart was leading her, guiding her through her life.

"Listening to your heart isn't a bad thing. Your heart can never lead you wrong… There is nothing wrong with that… Just remember that." He said with a soft chuckle, though only to stare at her for a moment… "You're the heir to the Hyuuga fortune correct?" Seeing Hinata's nod, he got a deeper grin as he said "so you're the girl my son has been talking about."

Hinata blushed softly.

"He can't stop talking about you… he really does like you."

"I guess… who would like me though… that isn't about my money?" Hinata whispered softly, feeling that was all she was good for. That people would only like her because she was the heir to a huge fortune…

"I don't think that's the case, Naruto… the way he talks about you tells me just how much he cares about you, for you. Not about your wealth." Minato said with a chuckle and took a few deep breaths before he sat up and started to eat his own meal. Looking over at Hinata, he calmly said "Naruto will come around I'm sure… just don't give up on your reason for being here… and you two will be together I'm sure."

Hinata didn't know why it sounded weird for him to talk to her about Naruto and her getting together… all she knew, was that it would never happen. There was no way that he would care about her if he knew the truth, that she… was really a girl pretending to be a boy in the army.

"I'm back." Said Naruto as he walked over to his father and Hinata, he stared at the two with a raised eyebrow and frowned as he said "did I miss something here?" Hinata just shook her head and left the tent before going back to the food tent to grab herself a meal. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if… if what Minato said was true, would she and Naruto be together if they really did love each other?

"I highly doubt it…" she whispered softly before walking into the tent.

New day… that was all Hinata had to say about this place. She carried a carriage, least her horse Usagi did… Usagi carried the carriage filled with fireworks, or in this case fire launchers. It was the only thing that she could think of them as; since it was the only chance they had to fire at the army from such a distance.

Looking over at Naruto, she saw that he was riding his horse with a bit of a sad look on his face. Not that she could blame him; some of the warriors had stayed behind to keep an eye on his father while he was healing. Minato, of course had told Naruto that right now, the mission was what was important and the heart's desire was just as important to the both of them. Hinata knew that Naruto's heart was telling him to stop this war, but his emotions were telling him to stay by his father.

All of this had to be hard on him for sure. Sighing softly, the young woman kept on walking with Usagi at her side, holding the horse's reins as she walked. Hinata wondered though, what the blonde man was thinking now… what was his heart telling him to do once the war was over.

Running a hand through the hair of her ponytail, she wondered what to do now…

Suddenly, there was a sound in the carriage and it made Hinata wonder who was inside. Narrowing her eyes, she moved the curtain aside and saw Shikamaru, Sai and Sasuke all inside. Raising an eyebrow, they were chatting among themselves, and of course Shikamaru was smoking a cigarette… wait… _Smoking a cigarette?_

"Guys get out of there!" shouted Hinata as she tried to get those guys out of there. Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow and shrugged before lighting his cigarette only for a spark to fall over. Hinata yelped and moved away from the carriage with Usagi, freeing her from the death trap for a fire cracker burst from the carriage and flew high into the sky and breaking into pieces.

"What the hell?" shouted Naruto as he rode over to them, growling as his eyes flashed red at Hinata. Narrowing his red eyes, he said "what did you do Yuudai? You just gave us away!"

"It wasn't me! Shikamaru, Sai and Sasuke are in there and Shikamaru was lighting a cigarette!"

Before Naruto could turn around, he shouted out in pain as an arrow was shot into his shoulder as he fell off the horse. Hinata yelped and rushed to Naruto's side and helped him up as she stared at the arrow in his shoulder and helped him out of the way. Everyone was gathering the fireworks out of the carriage and ran as far away as they could from it.

Hinata stared at Naruto as she asked "are you alright?"

"Pull it out!"

"What?"

"I said pull the arrow out!"

Hinata gulped, not sure that she would be able to handle that… Placing a hand on the back of his shoulder, she felt the arrow head come out of the back and sighed, least it could be a little easier for her. Taking a deep breath, the young woman snapped the arrow in half, causing Naruto to howl in pain. Hinata felt like her heart strings were being tugged from when she broke the arrow… though she knew that she had to rip the remaining of the arrow out. Taking a deep breath, the young woman stared at Naruto and saw that his face was drenched in sweat, his skin pale from the pain.

Hinata didn't want to do it… she didn't want to cause him any pain, but she knew… just knew that she had to do it or Naruto would have some horrible infection.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman tightly gripped the end of the arrow and stared at Naruto's pain stricken face one more time before quickly, pulling the arrow out of his shoulder and hissed when he growled and howled out in pain. Hinata tightly closed her eyes; his screams were so loud that she felt like her ears would have popped on her.

Naruto soon gasped out in pain and looked up as she saw an army running down from the army. Narrowing her eyes, she looked around and saw that people were charging into battle, she had to do something before it was too late. Looking around, she grabbed the firecracker and smiled… and idea had just popped into her head. Getting up, she rushed forward, quickly picking up the firecracker and ran forward.

"Yuudai what are you doing? Get back here!" shouted Naruto, though Hinata just kept on running before she had lost her nerve.

Hinata had to make sure that this was going to work; she had to make sure that the enemy would be buried by the snow that covered the mountain. Looking up at the sky, Hinata wondered if this plan was going to work, that she would be able to earn honor back to her family and to herself. It didn't make sense to her at the moment, but right now she wasn't thinking, she was mostly just acting…

Narrowing her eyes, Hinata jammed the butt of the firecracker into the ground, looking up as she saw the enemy running toward her. Looking around, Hinata tried to think if this was the right thing to do… though right now it didn't matter to her…

Once she found her spark rocks, Hinata aimed the rocket to the location, hoping that this plan would work… it was the only thing that she could come up with without the risk of hurting or killing anyone from her group… Naruto wouldn't have been able to do anything with that wound in his shoulder… Pointing the firecracker to the mountain, Ryu walked over to her as he asked "what are you planning to do?"

"Trying to hit the mountain is all… if I hit the mountain, it'll cause an avalanche and the enemy army will be buried in the snow, no one can survive that." Hinata calmly said before hitting the rocks together, hoping to get a spark to light the damn thing. But her hands couldn't hold them properly, that they couldn't spark for the firecracker. The young woman kept on cursing under her breath, trying to get at least a small spark but still, it wouldn't light up at all.

"Here." Ryu calmly said as he bent over close to Hinata to help give her the illusion of her using the sparking stones in her hands as he inhaled deeply and had breathed out a wisp of fire as the string had sparked and was starting to grow shorter and shorter…

"Thanks…" Hinata whispered, not wanting anyone to hear her, not like it could happen with the sound of the two arms charging at each other while screaming out a battle cry at the top of their lungs.

Finally, the firecracker launched toward the mountain, having shocked the man that had ran up to her and was ready to strike… until Hinata yelped and ran away for coming toward them was snow, and lots of it in the form is a tidal wave that would swallow them up until there was nothing left. As she ran, Hinata looked over at Naruto and saw that he had been running toward her when she had ran off and had launched the firecracker at the mountain.

Looking over her shoulder, Hinata saw that the snow was coming even faster now… Narrowing her eyes, she ran to Naruto, quickly grabbed his wrist and ran on down the mountain with him. Hinata had to find a good spot for them to hide in so they would stay safe… wait! At the speed that the snow was going, if they were just somehow able to dig a hole the snow would just run on past… no, that won't work they would run out of air before it stopped.

Looking over, Hinata saw a curved rock… she remembered that from when she was running up the hill, that'll come in handy for sure!

Though, as she ran, Hinata screamed out in pain for something had grazed her side… though right now the main thing that mattered was to make sure that Naruto stayed safe. Once they were in the safety of the rock, the snow had passed right over the both of them, and behind the other rocks, of course were the men from Naruto's army. Hinata took a few deep breaths as Naruto looked over to the side, watching as the snow ran right on past the two of them.

"Smart move Yuudai…" whispered Naruto as he stared at Hinata with a bright and cheerful grin, which of course made Hinata smile in return, least this was going as planned for sure… but it made her wonder just how long this was going to last. Or, if it even worked on the enemy at all… All of this was so very confusing for sure but at least they were safe, for now…

For what felt like hours, Naruto and Hinata stayed behind the rock as they felt the tremors of the avalanche slow down before halting, Hinata and Naruto both sat up from their hiding spot and smiled it seemed like a mission was accomplished no problem.

"You did great Yuudai!" shouted Sasuke with a smirk on his face.

Hinata just smiled and scratched the back of her head with a laugh. "Thanks Sasuke, it was better than letting people kill themselves for nothing." Though, soon she felt someone's hand on her shoulder which had caused her to look up in shock for smiling down at her was Naruto… she hadn't felt like this before… her heart fluttered, her skin was hot to the touch… yes, this was love… pure love. Hinata felt like she was in heaven…

Until she hissed out in pain and had her arm on her side…

"Yuudai?" shouted Naruto as he looked at her where her hand was and his skin went pale when he saw the blood starting to seep through Hinata's clothes. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto shouted out "he's wounded, get him some help right now men! Move it!" Looking over at Hinata he gave held onto her hoping that his body heat would keep her warm and help her until the doctor could treat her wounds.

"Hold on… just hold on, you'll be good as new."

"Naruto…"

"Don't talk Yuudai; the doctor will treat to your injury no problem, just stay awake alright?"

"Have… to tell you something."

"Stop talking."

"I'm not who… I say I am…" she whispered before her eyes closed. The pain had caused her to pass out.

Naruto growled, he was pacing back and forth in front of the tent that held Yuudai, he wasn't sure what was happening, all he knew was that the doctor was sure taking his sweet time to treat the wound… Though, it did have to be stitched up before anything else… Well, that and cleaned.

Everyone that was in the army had waited out with Naruto, though instead of pacing like he was they all sat down to wait instead. Sighing softly the young man looked over at the tent and saw that the doctor was just coming out… Naruto walked over to him and asked with worry "will he be okay…?"

"Yes but… there is one problem, he isn't… a well… a _he_ so to speak… you'll find out though Captain Uzumaki… please go in and see for yourself…" said the doctor before walking away.

Naruto was greatly confused before walking into the tent, frowning in confusion he saw that Yuudai still looked the same… his hair was still tied back and his face wasn't as pale as before so that was a plus at least… "Yuudai, are you alright?" asked Naruto as he walked toward him…

Yuudai opened his eyes and stared at him with the same lavender coloured eyes. Naruto wondered, if it was true that all Hyuuga's had the same eyes but didn't dare say anything about it. Yuudai smiled and pushed himself up, the blanket falling away from his body which… had made Naruto's eyes almost pop out of his head. He didn't see a flat chest but… a very well developed cleavage that a woman would kill for… but wait…

"You… you're a…" He glared at her for a moment before walking out of the tent; Hinata cried out after him and held the blanket close to her chest. Meanwhile, Konohamaru walked in and narrowed his eyes at her before grabbing Yuudai by the arm and pulling her out of the tent and held onto her tightly.

Naruto felt like such a fool, the whole time… the whole time he was talking to Yuudai about the girl he cared for… about the girl that he had fallen in love with was the very one he was talking too! Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Konohamaru had grabbed Yuudai and pulled out her ponytail. "So you were a woman the whole time." Growled out Konohamaru, not that Naruto could blame him; he followed the rules as best as he could…

Soon enough, Konohamaru threw her to the ground causing Hinata to yelp out in shock and pain. "My name… is Hinata Hyuuga! I'm sorry, I had to come here! I had to save my father from a horrible fate, I didn't want him to die please, believe me!"

Listening to her words, it made Naruto think… she came here because she wanted to keep her father safe… would he have done the same thing if he was in her shoes? Yes… he would have. Closing his eyes, he listened as Konohamaru had said that her family would have never lifting dishonor, and that her sentence is death… He stared at Naruto and he knew… what he had to do. Reaching over for a sword, Naruto lifted it over his head, getting ready to slice her head off her shoulders…

Though, when he looked at her scared lavender coloured eyes, he… he couldn't do it. Damn it, he loved this woman too much to do it… and he still owed her… she saved his life and now, it was up to him to decide her fate. Placing his sword back in its sheath, he calmly said "she had saved my life, and hers will remain intact. We move out to the Imperial City, and tell the Empress the good news… lets go."

With that, everyone started to pack up and leave… as for Naruto, he just glared at Hinata as he said "I can't believe I trusted you with my life… and my secret." With that, Naruto left though… as he walked away he felt like his own heart was shattering into pieces… though he had a feeling that was also happening to his very soul… The very thought of having to leave the one he claims to love in the snow…

That this, would be the very last time that he would ever see her. Was this for the greater good and also… what told him to spare her? Was it his mind, or his heart that told him to spare Hinata's life? Or maybe, it was that he had a dept to her, that with her saving his life that he had to save hers…

_'Maybe I'm just over thinking this…'_ thought Naruto with a sigh before disappearing with everyone else… leaving Hinata behind.


	10. Pain

_I didn't know what I had done wrong… maybe if I hadn't gotten hurt… I would still be there with everyone right now… And maybe, I wouldn't have lost Naruto's trust. But what I do know was that I had nothing left now. I didn't find the person I had hoped I would be. No, I found nothing… maybe that is all I really am. I am nothing, my life is nothing and that's all it would ever be._

_Nothing…_

_Everything I have ever done in the past was to help people… I tried to make people's lives so much easier and now… I just ended up making it so much worse for everyone… I made it worse for Naruto; I made it worse for my father… my family… everyone. I should just give up while I still can before I lose the last bit of myself that I cannot lose. For if I lose that, then… I just wouldn't want to live anymore._

Hinata stared at the remains of a fire that she and Ryu had made. It was cold… so cold. The only warmth she had was the blanket that had once covered Usagi, though Ryu had said that Usagi wouldn't want her master to get cold… Hinata tried to smile but she just felt too empty to do so. It almost felt like that when Naruto had left, a piece of her had gone with him.

Was this what it felt like to lose the only man that you've ever loved? Because of a stupid mistake that she had made… shaking her head, Hinata looked up at the sky, wondering what she could do now…

"Hinata… get a hold of yourself! You have to pull yourself together or you'll lose yourself to the darkness of despair…" Ryu said, trying to get the poor girl to come out of her depression.

Hinata looked up at Ryu and gave a sad smile, "Ryu, there isn't a point in any of this anymore. The more I look at all of this, I just see failure… No matter what I did, I only hurt more people. I hurt my father by losing our honor… and I hurt Naruto. He told me how he felt about me… he told me about his secret. He trusted me and yet… I didn't trust him enough to tell him that I was really a woman."

"But you tried…"

"I did… but I passed out before I could."

"Hinata… go to him, tell him why you did what you did."

Hinata sighed and shook her head, no matter what she just thought that she would only make it worse for everyone. There was just no way of explaining this to Naruto, he wouldn't listen to her anymore… not that she blamed him for any of this. She had a pretty good feeling that she would have blamed herself too if she was in his shoes.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream from the mountain, causing Hinata, Ryu and Usagi to look up and gasp. "He's still alive!" shouted Hinata as she pushed herself to her feet. Ryu narrowed his eyes, agreeing with Hinata at the thought of Orochimaru being alive. That was the last thing that they needed right now.

Putting on her robes, the young woman quickly hopped up onto Usagi before riding off with Ryu in tow. There was no way that she was going to let the city fall… she was going to make sure that everyone stayed safe.

Though, maybe… she could find a way to patch things up with Naruto… if they all worked together than maybe that together they could finish off Orochimaru for good, but right now… she had to find a way to stop the snake before he got to the Empress… the last thing they needed is for him to take control over this place…

Narrowing her eyes, the young woman kept on running, there was no way that she was going to let that guy take control over Konoha… the village was free, and under the right leader that's how it will always remain… least, not to the women… But she hoped that would change as well… that was just how it should be. Taking a deep breath, Hinata kept her eyes focused on the target ahead of her… the Sacred City of Konoha…

No… no one can have the city but the royal family… it was the only way to make sure that the city stayed and remained safe for all time… and she would make sure that it stayed that way even if she had to kick some ass.

Hinata wasn't sure how long she had been riding for, but she knew that she had made it just in time for the ceremony over the win over the battle. Everyone in the city had gathered to watch as the army would walk down the street. Hinata sighed, knowing that it would be hard to get through. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled her hair back and rode into the street when she saw Naruto riding is horse down the street.

When she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were dull and void of life… but why?

Shaking her head, the young woman finally caught up to him as she said "Naruto… you have to listen to me, Orochimaru is in the city. He'll go after the Empress."

"Why should I believe you 'Yuudai'?"

Hinata felt a sting in her heart when he said that… his voice was cold as ice, and sharp as a blade. It made her want to cry but right now wasn't the time for tears. But the time for a plan and action, shaking her head, the young woman stared at Naruto with determination in her eyes. "Naruto, Orochimaru is in the town… you trusted me when I was Yuudai, you trusted me… you told me your secret when I saw you… you trusted me then, why can't you trust me now?"

"You never trusted me."

"I did trust you Naruto… I tried to tell you, but you kept telling me to be quite and save my strength. I wanted to tell you, even your father knew right away."

Naruto remained silent; Hinata guessed that when she had said that his father knew that it sorta put him in shock. Though, she didn't say anything about that… Shaking her head, she whispered "if you don't trust me enough… then so be it. This battle will be where I fall." With that, Hinata rode off to fight Orochimaru.

This was going to be her last battle. Naruto didn't trust her anymore and had a feeling that he would never trust her. Sighing softly, the young woman hid within the palace, being careful not to scare anyone. She was going to strike when Orochimaru least expected it.

"Hinata, are you crazy, Orochimaru will kill you if you do this…"

"I don't care."

Ryu just frowned at her, thinking that she had finally lost it. Was she really just doing this to regain honor or had she really just given up on everything? It didn't make sense to him but maybe… she was in so much in love with Naruto that his rejection had hurt more than he had thought… would she rather leave this world… than to face the pain of heart ache?

Ryu shook his head as he said "I'll take a look on ahead…"

Hinata just nodded and hid in the shadows for now. She was going to make sure that no one got hurt here but the snake known as Orochimaru. She was going to make sure that he went down this night.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata held her sword close to her chest; she had to make sure that Orochimaru didn't get away. She had to make sure that this battle went according to plan for her. Taking a deep breath, Hinata listened carefully… she heard the sound of people's screams… the sound of swords clashing… Hiding behind the throne, Hinata had to make sure that she stayed hidden.

Soon, the door opened and light shined through.

Hinata could faintly make out the sounds of a woman and a man…

"Ah… Tsunade, soon this town will belong to me. And no one else will be able to stop me."

"You won't win Orochimaru… my army will stop you and this town will be safe once more."

Hinata figured that this would be the Empress, and Orochimaru… did they know each other? Or was it something else? She couldn't be for sure at the moment but knew that everything will be fine… she had to wait for the Empress to be away from the man before she could make her strike. There was only one chance that she had right now…

But what confused Hinata the most, was why Ryu never came back…

Finally, Hinata heard a yelp and peeked from behind the throne and saw a woman with long blonde hair tied in two long yet low pig tails, brown-amberish eyes… her robes were a simple low cut white kimono, and a long silk green jacket that flowed with her movements… least, that's what Hinata thinks…

When she looked over at the man, she saw that his skin was ghostly pale… his eyes yellow like that of a snake… he had purple lines surrounding his eyes as if to bring out the shine in his eyes. His hair, long and dark as the night though it also hung in his face as if hiding the evil soul that resided within him… he wore an outfit similar to her own… a white top that hung on his body reaching his waist till it split at the sides, and black pants… tied around his waist was a purple rope like tie and he also wore black boots…

Hinata frowned, this man… she could sense the evil flowing around him like an aura… was this how it was for those who were evil? With souls as black as the darkened sky, that was the only thing that seemed to make sense to her, but she knew that he was pure evil… and he had to be stopped…

Jumping from the shadows, Hinata pulled out the sword from its sheath and narrowed her lavender eyes as she swung the sword at Orochimaru. The man stared at Hinata in shock and pulled out his own sword and stopped Hinata's strike.

"So… you had one last surprise Tsunade…"

"I… I don't know who she is."

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she said "this is my plan and mine alone. I came here to finish off what I started." The man just stared off at Hinata in confusion, which made Hinata grin. "Don't remember me? Remember the solider that launched the fire cracker into the mountain? That was me."

Though, as soon as she had said that Orochimaru glared at her… Hinata felt his anger flare as he pushed against her sword. Hinata tried to stay strong or she would fall before Orochimaru was dead… She used all of her strength to get away from Orochimaru and tried to think of a new way to attack.

Though sadly, Orochimaru wasn't going to have it that way…

He charged at Hinata and slashed his sword at her stomach, Hinata screamed out in pain only to slash back at his chest. Orochimaru just smirked and drew his sword downward to her. Hinata blocked the hit and kicked the pale skinned man in the stomach to get him away from her. Orochimaru hissed but he wasn't going to stop… and neither was she.

Hinata charged again and swung her sword, she ignored her pain… she had to ignore it if she was to win this battle.

Orochimaru disappeared, which had caused Hinata to look around the room… wondering where he could have gone… though, soon the young woman felt a strange whirl wind surrounding her… as well as blades. Was this one of Orochimaru's tricks? Was he using some kind of old magic that was long forgotten by the city?

Hinata screamed as she felt the blades pierce her arms… her legs, her back, her chest… everywhere. Eyes widening, Hinata jumped out of the whirl wind of blades and charged at Orochimaru. "You'll die here today snake!" shouted Hinata as she ducked the flying blades. Hinata twirled as she ran, using her sword to deflect the blades as she got closer to Orochimaru…

Orochimaru tried to throw more blades at Hinata; trying to stop her… she knew that he would have to have run out of weapons at some point.

Growling, Hinata screamed out in rage as she swung her sword and dug it through Orochimaru's chest… right through his heart… Hinata smirked only for her eyes to widen… she felt something go right through her own chest… her body felt numb… she felt blood drip in her mouth and dribble at the side of her lips…

Orochimaru smirked as he said "if I fall… so shall the hero…" soon, Orochimaru fell to the ground as a puddle of blood started to build around him… The doors opened once more to reveal Naruto and Ryu running toward her.

Hinata weakly turned to stare at Naruto, his face stricken with fear and panic. She could faintly hear him scream out her name as she gave him a small smile. "Naruto…" She whispered before falling over… her body was so weak… she didn't think that she could keep up… her legs, no her whole body was numb on her.

As she fell, Hinata kept on hearing people scream out her name… she thought that she could faintly feel someone trying to hold her. Hinata didn't know why but… she was happy… Naruto was holding her in his arms, trying to bring her back… the last thing she could feel before the darkness claimed her, was a strange warmth of something on her lips… as it slowly started to spread through her whole body.


	11. Love

**I'd like to say that I am sorry that the chapter wasn't as long as I had hoped... sorry, also someone had sent me a note suggesting for a mystery girlfriend, I don't know how that would work honestly, I'm not really sure... anyway, I have a Naruto/Pokemon Colosseum crossover, I might put up the first chapter up today since I already have it finished, I'm gonna try to update Kyuubi Phantom, Cute Vampire and I might put up another crossover I started a while ago, ^-^ please enjoy the story.**

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><p><em>I was surrounded by darkness… I felt like I was floating in a sea of nothingness… was that even possible? I couldn't really say… But what I did know was that I didn't feel cold at all. In fact, I felt very warm. Was it from the last thing that I felt before losing sense of the world? Did Naruto do something for me?<em>

_I can't say…_

_It just felt like I have been asleep for days without ending… would I ever wake up? Or would I stay asleep forever… or was this… my own personal hell?_

Hinata felt like she wouldn't wake up… her body felt light as a feather yet at the same time, heavy as lead. Was that possible for her? Or was it something else that had caused that… She wanted to just open her eyes though didn't know if she would like what she sees. Her body didn't want to listen to her… it was as if her body was waiting for someone to say something… a form of responds before she could wake up…

"I should have trusted her… I should have followed her!" said a painful voice, Hinata remembered that voice… that was Naruto's…

"It isn't your fault… I should have found out that you could have seen me sooner." Was that Ryu? What did he mean find out that Naruto could see him? That didn't make any kind of sense at all!

"I never showed any other sign that I could see you…"

"Naruto… stop blaming yourself for something you didn't know was to happen."

"I can't… if I knew what she was planning… I could have helped her… damn it why would she try to get herself killed!"

"She was in pain when you didn't trust her anymore… she didn't want the pain that life gave her. That's all it's ever given her was pain."

That was when it went silent. Hinata didn't know what had happened, though what she did know was that she soon felt something holding her hand. Was that Naruto? She didn't know, though she wanted to respond to him now… Was her body waiting for something to be said before anything else happens? Or was there something else?

"I love her more than anything… I can't lose her…" whispered Naruto with a choked up sob.

"Was that why you gave her some of your strength?"

"Yeah… I couldn't bear the thought of losing her… so; I had given her some of my strength…"

Hinata wanted to cry at hearing those words… Naruto didn't want to lose her… he loves her… Damn it, she wanted to move so badly right about now… Soon, Hinata felt something on her lips… was that Naruto? Was he kissing her once more…? Hinata slowly opened her eyes from Naruto's kiss and blinked slowly at him… when he had pulled back, the young woman gave a soft smile to the shocked blonde haired man.

"Hinata…"

"H… Hi… Naru… to…" whispered Hinata in a tired voice, her body was still so weak but right now… she was just happy to be awake and to see the two most important people in her life. "How long…?"

"A week… the doctors were amazed that you survived though thanks to Naruto and Tsunade, you pulled through." Said Ryu with a big grin, though Hinata was still surprised that Ryu was still talking as if Naruto could really hear and see him. "Hinata… Naruto can see spirits…"

Eyes widening, Hinata looked at Naruto and stared at him as he smiled and nodded to her. Chuckling, Naruto whispered "I've been able to see him the whole time. When I was merged with a demon… I had the ability to see spirits, including guardian spirits. I just never say anything because I worry people would think I'm crazy."

Hinata smiled a bit…

Taking a deep breath, the young woman tried to push herself up but hissed out in pain. Her body still hurt from the battle with Orochimaru though, she knew that it was only natural… she had been stabbed and hit a lot with a daggers… Taking a deep breath, Hinata frowned when she felt arms gently supporting her… Taking a deep breath, Hinata smiled and lied her head on his shoulder… she couldn't help but be happy… "You love me?" whispered Hinata as she nuzzled the blonde haired man's shoulder.

"You… you heard that?"

"I've been able to hear for a little while now… I'm not sure how long though…"

Hinata looked up at Naruto and saw that he had blushed a little more which of course had made her giggle softly. "Oh, one last thing… Empress Tsunade wanted to thank you for saving her… and has announced to everyone in Konoha about your actions… and announced that you were both a hero, and an inspiration to everyone."

Hinata blushed at that… she was… a hero? An inspiration? Oh she wanted to faint right now but didn't want to ruin this moment that she had with Hinata. Taking a deep breath, Hinata tried to think on how to ask this… how to ask how Naruto knew where she was… oh… right… she had heard that Ryu went to get him so they both could stop her… "Naruto… how was I saved?"

"Like I said… I gave you my energy…"

"But how…"

"I… uh… um… I well… I kissed… you…"

"You did?"

"Yeah… it was the only way I knew how to do that. I'm sorry."

Smiling, Hinata kissed Naruto's cheek and sighed softly in content. She had told him that it didn't matter to her, that it was alright… that she had wanted a kiss from him for so long. Though, it was sad that she had passed out before she could have really felt her first kiss come and go. The power of love was what had saved her… maybe true love was just as powerful as she had thought it could be, and more… now, all she had to do was talk to her father, hoping that he wasn't mad at her for what she did…

Sighing softly, the young woman knew that the time would come, she had to speak to her father… hoping that she would be okay when they spoke to each other…

Though, she would have to wait until she's healed…

It had been a month since she had woken up… it seemed like forever since she was last at home. Sighing softly, the young woman looked up at the building of her home… after she had healed; Empress Tsunade had given her an amulet with the symbol of Konoha… a simple leaf with a swirl in the center. It hung around her neck, and in her hands, was the sword of Orochimaru…

She didn't care about honor anymore though… she knew that honor was important to her father. And this was the only way to make things right for them.

Naruto had his arm wrapped around her waist and held her close as he gave her a soft smile. Hinata looked up at Naruto and smiled as she said "thanks…" She gave a soft smile before walking toward the gates of her family's mansion with Naruto and looked around for her father. Though, she wasn't sure where Naruto could have gone… it was as if her family's home had been abandoned. Though she didn't say anything… Taking a deep breath, Hinata thought that her father had possibly gone to the cherry tree that was in the yard… that was her father's favourite place to think sometimes…

Sitting by the tree was her father… he looked so sad… Hinata knew that it was her fault… Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed as he whispered "go to him… you need to talk to him." Hinata nodded and walked over to her father and sighed softly… Hinata knew that she would have to speak to him… that she would have to make peace between the two of them…

Once she reached her father, Hinata sat on her knees as she said "father… I come back with gifts… the amulet of Empress Tsunade, and the sword of Orochimaru… I hope that you find honor in these gifts…" Hinata had whispered the last part, not sure if her father was even looking at her, or if he was even listening… when she looked up, Hinata just saw that her father was staring at her with wide eyes…

"Hinata…" He whispered before pulling her into a hug. "I don't need trinkets for honor… the only things I need… for honor is having you and your sister as my daughters…" Hinata felt her eyes filling with tears… she didn't know what more she could do… only to hug her father back and cry in his shoulder.

"I've missed you father…"

Naruto smiled softly, it seemed that life would be peaceful now… though, Naruto knew that there would be a lot more to their lives now… Walking over to the hugging father and daughter, Naruto bowed as he said "hello Hiashi Hyuuga… I am Naruto Uzumaki… son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki… I… I was looking after your daughter while I was training the troops… I failed to keep her safe at the end… and Hinata almost lost her life because of me… I am sorry."

Hiashi looked up at Naruto and stood up before he just stared at the blonde haired man.

"Even though I have failed to keep her safe, I made sure that she stayed alive… I love your daughter with all my heart…"

"So long as you have kept her safe and alive… you may see her Naruto."

Hinata and Naruto looked up with wide eyes. Only to smile brightly as they hugged each other. Hinata wrapped her arm around Naruto's as she and the blonde haired man started to walk away.

Though, her father left asking one of the maids to get him his prized sword… he would have to set limits for Naruto when it came to his daughter…

Hinata laid her head on Naruto's shoulder as she said "you make me so happy Naruto…" She giggled and looked up at the blonde haired man and kissed his cheek. Naruto chuckled and wrapped his arms around Hinata and pulled her into a soft and tender kiss.

"You make me more happy and alive… more so than I've ever felt before in my entire life. I want to be with you… forever." Whispered Naruto as he kissed her a little more… Hinata knew that their lives would be full of nothing but joy… nothing would stop her joy and knew that nothing would stand in between them and their happiness. Hinata couldn't wait to see what the future holds for the two of them.


End file.
